


The Brooklyn House Championship

by Ardoa88



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Kane Chronicles - Rick Riordan
Genre: Annabeth v Sadie, Cannon Relationships, Capture the... flag?, Competition, Continuation of When Worlds Collide, Demigods v. Magicians 2.0, Fight to the not death, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Happy Ending?, I'm Bad At Tagging, Last chapter sets up WWC book 2, Leo v Zia, Obstacle course of doom, Percy v Carter, Please enjoy!, Walt and Felix are evil masterminds, kinda-sorta?, no spoilers ;)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:08:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29043645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ardoa88/pseuds/Ardoa88
Summary: (Sequel to When Worlds Collide) A few weeks after saving the world from a rampaging Egyptian goddess, Percy, Annabeth, and Leo receive a message from their friends at the 21st Nome, inviting them to partake in a competition to determine- once and for all- which pantheon reigns supreme: Greek or Egyptian. At least it's not another apocalypse... right? (Rated Teen because I'm paranoid)Will update 1/week on Fridays
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 26
Kudos: 33





	1. You Are Cordially Invited...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabeth, Percy, and Leo receive a letter.
> 
> OR: They thought this whole 'magicians and demigods' thing was behind them... they were wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!  
> Welcome back! If you read When Worlds Collide then you might have noticed there was a little epilogue/prologue for one Brooklyn House Championship- Tadaa!!! Here it is! Welcome to the interim between WWC Books 1 and 2 where our heroes get to unwind in fun friendly fights-to-the-NOT-death and other games.
> 
> Who will prevail? Demigods or Magicians? Only one way to find out!

**(Annabeth POV)**

Winter had officially arrived in New York. The first snowfall of the season coated the streets and buildings in a fine white powder, a chill in the air replacing the lingering warmth of fall. Jackets and beanie caps became the new fashion, scarves and gloves surely to follow as the temperatures continued to drop as the year creeped closer and closer to its end.

Annabeth was not a fan. She disliked the cold almost as much as spiders; it reminded her of the time when she, Luke, and Thalia had been making their way to Camp Half-Blood. Countless nights spent huddled in street corners as the frigid temperatures of winter settled deep in their bones. The blonde shuddered involuntarily at the memories, pulling her own flannel jacket tighter; as if doing so could chase off the chill in the wind as well as the one that accompanied the ghosts of her past.

A touch on her shoulder turned the demigod’s head, and old woes faded as Annabeth smiled up at Percy. He reciprocated the expression, moving to sit on the bench beside her, a covered mug offered out with his free hand.

“Took you long enough.” Annabeth teased lightly, accepting the coffee. “I was just wondering if I would need to make an expedition to the underworld again.”

“Gods forbid.” He muttered, expression twisting into a grimace. “I ran into Rachel Dare at the dining pavillion, actually.”

Annabeth’s eyebrows rose as she took a deep draft of the bittersweet liquid. “She’s here?” The last they’d seen of their friend she’d gone with Tyson and Ella to Camp Jupiter. The trio had been with the Romans ever since the end of the war with Gaea. Come to think of it… Annabeth hadn’t seen Rachel when they’d been there last. Granted- she and Carter had been a bit preoccupied by the end of the world at the time, but still...

“I was surprised too,” Percy leaned against the back of the bench, draping an arm over Annabeth’s shoulder. “She told me they were close to decyphering the- the Sibling Books?”

“Sybilline Books,” Annabeth corrected lightly. Then her eyes widened and she whirled to face Percy. “She didn’t issue another prophecy, did she?”

The laugh that leapt from her boyfriends mouth would’ve been answer enough, but he also shook his head in the negative. “You really think I’d be lounging here if she did? Nah, nothing so ominous. Relax, Wise Girl: we’ve met our quota for dangerous adventures this year.”

“As far as we know,” Annabeth grumbled, but she settled back down nonetheless, snuggling into her boyfriends side. An easy silence fell between them, the comfortable quiet broken only by the faint lapping of waves upon the shore.

It was a peaceful moment. Annabeth had long since learned to appreciate these small breaks from their hectic demigod lives. Not that things ever stayed peaceful for long, but for now the world wasn’t in need of saving, so she would take what she was given. The sinking sun cast the sound in a river of gold, the water’s reflection distorting the pink and purple cloudless sky with small whitecaps. Annabeth placed the now empty cup to the side, her contented exhale misting in the brisk temperatures.

“Ahhh…. that hit the spot.”

Percy smirked down at her. “Am I a good boyfriend, or what?”

“You pass.” Annabeth reciprocated the expression, mirth in her storm grey eyes. “Although your timing leaves a bit to be desired?”

“Oh, really now?” Percy leaned over and tickled his cold nose against her ear before brushing a kiss against her cheek. His voice lowered as he moved down her jaw towards her lips. “I’d say this is perfect timing.”

Annabeth suppressed the urge to giggle (Daughters of the Goddess of war and battle strategy did _not_ giggle), and instead closed her eyes, leaning closer to her boyfriend’s open invitation to make out. But just before their lips could touch, a third voice entered the foray.

“Hey guys, I- Oh, _eww_ , public PDA? _Seriously_?”

Percy’s chin dropped down to his chest with a soft groan before glancing over his shoulder in annoyance. “It was _private_ PDA until you showed up.”

“Eh, point made.” Leo’s shoulders shrugged. The hispanic still wasn’t looking at them directly, though, having diverted his eyes with one hand raised as if to block his view. The other was lowered by his side, and Amnabeth could see the metal edge of a laptop peeking out from behind him. “Still, anyone could’ve just walked in on your smooch fest.”

Percy’s cheeks flamed. “It wasn’t a smooch fest.”

“It was quickly turning into one, though, wasn't it?”

Resisting the urge to chew out the younger demigod for his untimely interruption, Annabeth instead asked, “What are you doing here, Leo?”

The mechanic was usually holed up in Bunker Nine keeping Festus company as, ever since they’d returned from their little trip to save the world, Chiron had placed an indefinite ban on the Argo III’s flight privileges. To hear Leo tell it, one would think the restriction was driving Festus completely mad (It wasn’t, as Annabeth had verified herself when such rumors arose, but Leo was certainly bemoaning the fact that his baby was, for all intents and purposes, inoperable). Annabeth had suggested letting Festus roam around the lake- the Argo III _was_ still fundamentally a _boat_ , after all- but the mechanic had looked horrified at the prospect, saying how the salt water would only invite rust to infringe upon the pristine metal hull.

“This is where Jake and Nys said you’d be,” Leo said in answer to the question. “Apparently ‘by the beach’ is a common hangout for a Son of Poseidon. Gods only know the answer as to why.” The joke fell a bit flat, but Leo still smiled as if it was the funniest thing in the world.

Annabeth waited but when no more information was forthcoming, she prompted, “And you needed to see us _because_ …”

Leo’s face was the definition of ‘oh, yeah’ as the demigod fumbled with something in his other hand. “Right- I got this in the mail, and it’s addressed to all three of us, so...”

‘This’ turned out to be a CD and a folded piece of yellowed parchment; both of which he held up for the couple to see. On the CD cover were five hand written words in a scraggly, quickly written text: **From your friends in Brooklyn** . And then in the smaller text below: ( **Play me first)**.

Percy and Annabeth exchanged a quick look of surprise, the latter voicing what they were both thinking. “From the Kanes? What is it?”

“I have absolutely no idea!” Leo announced proudly. “Well I wasn’t about to up and watch it in front of them, now was I? As it was, I had to think pretty fast as to why us three, of all people, had a mutual friend.”

Annabeth raised a brow. “So what _did_ you tell them?”

“That Percy was trying to set me up with an old ex-girlfriend who lived in Brooklyn.”

Percy blanched. “You did _what!_ ”

“Relax, Aquaman,” Leo chuckled. “I’m just kidding. I told them your mom was moving to Brooklyn and that I had a relative in the area who was helping her house hunt. And that your mom was making an inside joke with the ‘friend from Brooklyn’ message. All that aside,” Leo motioned with the laptop he brought. “Would you like to find out what’s on it? Or were you too busy smashing your faces together? Because I can come back later if-”

“Leo?” Annabeth interrupted.

“Yeah?”

“Shut up and play the gods damned video.”

The mechanic cracked a wide grin as Percy and Annabeth made room for him, the younger demigod flipping open the laptop and powering up the device. He slid the disk into a slot on the side, and a minute later he had the file open, the screen of the portable electronic taken up by a video.

The recording took place on the Brooklyn House’s balcony, the New York city skyline out of focus in the far distance. In the center of the frame was none other than Carter, his visible upper half dressed in one of those pressed collared shirts he always wore that made him look like a college professor instead of a teenager. The caroub haired kid cleared his throat and waved a bit hesitantly at the camera.

“Hello, hope you are all doing well. I know it’s been a few months, but I’m Carter Kane and-”

From off screen there was a huff, the camera shaking slightly as the british-accented voice of Sadie Kane interrupted. “Bloody hell, brother dear, I doubt they’ve _forgotten_ us. It’s only been six weeks.”

Carter’s responsive glower was directed behind the camera. “I _know_ that. Just- hold the camera still.” His attention refocused on them and he cleared his throat again. “Anyway, um, we would like to- that is, you’ve been cordially invited to attend-”

Another off-screen snort, louder this time. The camera actually dropped away from Carter, pointing down at the tiled patio flooring where a set of combat boots could be seen poking into the edge of the frame.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Sadie was saying, voice strained as if she was holding back a laugh. “But ‘ _cordially invited_ ’? Gods, what are we in the sixteenth century or something? Here, you hold this and I’ll do the talking.”

The screen was a blur as the camera was shoved into Carter’s hands, an undignified yelp of “Sadie!” accompanying the dizzying angle change. When it stabilized, Sadie was now in the centerfold, the girl sporting a bright red shirt and black leather jacket. The younger Kane sibling saluted the camera sloppily, a wide grin creasing her face.

“What’s up Demi-Geeks! Sadie here, you know, the _cooler_ Kane.” Another noise of protest by her brother was fully ignored as Sadie continued talking. “What my brother was trying and failing to say, is that you lot have been summoned to partake in the most amazing, intense, spectacular, world-changing trial by combat, the likes of which have never before been seen!” Sadie spread her hands out to either side with a dramatic flair. “A challenge of monumental proportions that no god could ever conceive in their wildest dreams, a fight to the bitter end: The Cosmos Championship!”

“It’s the _Brooklyn House Tournament_.”

Sadie rolled her eyes, arms dropping. “We both agreed that was a lame title.”

“No, _you_ said it was lame-”

“Anyhoo! It’s gonna go down next weekend at the Twenty-First nome, be there, or else be dubbed infinitely inferior for all eternity.” She winked, a smirk tugging at her mouth. “It’s time to see which of us is _truly_ the strongest: demigod or magician? Don’t be late!”

The screen cut to black.

The three demigods remained quiet for a moment following the end of the message. Leo was the one who eventually broke it, a frown in his voice. “Demi-Geeks? Um… I am a _full_ geek, thank you very much.”

“Sounds like fun.” Percy smiled.

“You’re not seriously considering going?” Annabeth glanced at Percy, “Are you?”

Her boyfriend shrugged. “We don’t have anything else to do at the moment.”

“I’m not saying it won't be fun but, look, back when the whole Hathor thing was happening, Carter said they had some of their people away for school.” Annabeth said. “They’re probably back now that the semester is over, and no matter how careful we are, some of them are bound to ask questions about our- y’know, being Greek demigods. Or they’ll at least notice that we’re _not_ magicians.”

Percy’s hopeful expression crumbled. “I guess…”

Damn him. It was that hurt puppy-dog look. The one look Percy knew Annabeth couldn’t resist trying to appease: even if he wasn’t currently directing it her way. The fact of the matter was that he was still wearing it on his face. Annabeth pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh: _maybe_ they could find a way to go.

She looked back at Leo. “You said there was a note too?”

The Son of Hephaestus nodded, pulling out the carefully folded piece of parchment and handing it over. Annabeth unfolded it, feeling Percy wrap his arms around her back and tuck his chin on her shoulder, reading along as she read aloud:

**Hello, Carter again,**

**A note of clarification, as my sister forgot to mention some important things (no big surprise there). Firstly, the Brooklyn House Tournament will be a friendly bout of sparring rounds: not a fight-to-the-death as Sadie may have implied. Secondly, rest assured we have not shared your heritage with the entire 21st Nome. The only ones in attendance will be those who are already aware of your existence (Cleo will be chapperoning the rest of our initiates on an educational exploration of Thoth's Library in Tennessee) so your secret will be safe. Lastly, please understand that there is no pressure to attend, the choice is completely yours, but we would be honored to have your company.**

**Hope to see you next Friday!**

**_Carter Kane_ **

**(A.K.A. The smarter Kane)**

“Honored to have your company,” Leo repeated with a chuckle. “Can’t believe I’m saying this, but Sadie might be right about her brother being a few centuries behind.”

“You see?” Percy gestured to the note. “They _are_ being careful. Honestly, I don’t see a reason not to go.” At Annabeth’s continued hesitance, he nudged her in the side. “C’mon, you don’t want to be dubbed the ‘infinitely inferior’ to a bunch of kids, do you?”

A grin finally cracked her lips. “That would be pretty sad, wouldn’t it. Okay, we’ll go.” Percy smiled like a kid in a candy store, leaning over to smack a kiss on her cheek. What she said next, however, put a small damper on his sudden surge of elation. “Next weekend, huh? Looks like we’ve got a week to train up.”

Twin looks of horror descended on the boys.

“Wait… training?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fin! Thanks for reading!
> 
> As I mentioned earlier, this chapter was already posted at the end of WWC so chapter 2 (prologue part 2, technically) will be going up as well!
> 
> Have a great day!


	2. Let the Games Begin!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The time has come for the epic showdown between the pantheons!  
> Or... it WOULD be if the demigods would just show up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers!
> 
> Guess who's NOT dead? ME! Muahaha, now we can begin world domination! ... oops, was that out loud.
> 
> Sorry for disappearing like that. It's been hectic trying to prepare for my upcoming deployment but I finally found some free time to write this out. Most of the chapters are finished already, I still have one or two left to go before it's well and truly done, so I'll be updating on a weekly schedule (yay!) of every Friday for the next month or so.
> 
> But wait- it's Thursday?
> 
> Yup! Good on you for not losing track of the days. I have a flight tomorrow so I'm posting this chapter early because I love you all and have no self control.

**(Carter POV)**

“Honestly brother, if you wanted to wear a hole in the rug there are easier ways to do it.”

I spared a moment to glare at Sadie, my feet deliberately ceasing in their circular path around the center of the living room at the comment. My sister didn’t see it though, too busy inspecting her nails (as she’d been doing for the past ten minutes) with an air of blatant indifference.

It was that overly calm, uninterested facade that let me know she was nervous too.

As far back as I could remember, that’s how it’d always been. When I was on edge, I moved around, or tapped my foot, or did something physical to disperse the anxious energy. When Sadie was nervous she pretended she couldn’t care less about whatever it was that was causing it.

And what was causing it this time was the silence.

The Twenty-First Nome was normally a very noisy place, with the rumble and crack of magic and the standard everyday bickering and arguing that came with housing thirty-some-odd teenagers under the same roof. During the day there was always a constant hum of activity and background chatter, the nights even more so: Between Monday Game Night and Friday Karaoke, a lot of the Nome’s occupants had been prompted to magically soundproof the door to their rooms to give them their own quiet space (Unfortunately, no spell existed that was strong enough to block out Sadie’s tone-deaf singing. But Cleo was seriously working on one). But tonight, on a night where instrumental music accompanied by teenagers belting out incorrect lyrical accompaniments should have permeated through every crevice in the Brooklyn House, silence reigned unchallenged through the empty halls. The immense quiet was unsettling, to say the least; putting both Sadie and I on edge.

“They should’ve been here by now if they were coming.” I said in lieu of addressing her comment.

“Maybe they hit traffic?”

“ _Right_ ,” I drew out the word, “because they’d run into _tons_ of traffic on a flying boat.”

Sadie raised her eyes to meet mine, dropping her hand back down onto the couch armchair with a huff. “Give up on the attempts at sarcasm, Carter, you really can’t pull it off as well as I can.”

I knew she was just trying to get a rise out of me, the snarky comeback was halfhearted at best. Still, it had been a long day and my nerves were already frayed so I took to the bait. “At least I don’t have to worry about any windows breaking due to your singing.”

“That’s rich,” Sadie snarked, “coming from the guy who can’t even name a song in this century.”

Despite the argumentative tone, her words didn’t hold any heat and neither did mine. Bickering like this was familiar, it was normal, and I could feel myself relaxing into the familiar rhythm as we sniped insults back and forth, each growing more ridiculous than the next. I could see Sadie unwinding as well, the faux laid back posture shifting as she sat up straighter, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

It was a game we both enjoyed (not that either of us would _ever_ admit to it).

I had just drawn a breath to snap back about a comment Sadie had made about me being a nerd when someone else interrupted, saying, “I can’t leave you two alone for _five_ minutes without you going and getting into a fight, can I?”

Sadie ducked her head, cheeks turning a light shade of pink. “ _He_ started it.” She whined, pointing an accusatory finger in my face.

My eyes crossed briefly, looking at the polished nail before I swatted her hand away. “Right, because somehow this is all _my_ fault-”

“ _Guys._ ” Walt pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a deep sigh and muttering, “and here I thought I had just put the childish one to bed. I didn’t realize we had two more.”

At the mention of Felix, I smiled openly. We’d all had to take turns enforcing some semblance of bedtime upon the younger initiates, and let’s just say the experience of trying to get a group of seven and eight year olds (who could use _magic_ ) to go to bed at a reasonable hour was a trial in its own regard.

“You got him to go to sleep already?” Sadie sounded as impressed as I was, and Walt nodded the affirmative.

“He was pretty excited to see everyone, but I guess he tired himself out. Besides,” He shrugged, “if they haven’t gotten here by now, they’re probably not coming.”

“See? Even Walt’s on my side.”

“Well… what if they just hit some traffic?” Sadie’s repeat protest wasn’t as firm this time.

Walt frowned. “Don’t they have a flying boat?”

I spread my hands out towards Walt, leveling my best ‘I told you so’ look at Sadie. She rolled her eyes with a groan. “Okay, okay, _fine_ .” She relented, raising her hands in mock surrender. “If you soursports are both _so_ convinced then… it looks like we got our weekend back, so now what?”

“We could always go join the others in Tennessee?” I suggested.

“Alright nerd, let me rephrase: what do we want to do _for fun_?”

“Visiting Thoth’s residence _is_ fun.”

“Yeah,you _would_ think mulling about in some dusty library is fun.” Sadie snorted. “Plus, did you forget that we kinda burned his book? I don’t think he’d be too happy to see us.”

“He didn’t even know where the book _was_ the last time we met him.” I countered. “I hardly think he’ll be mad if we tell him it’s still missing.”

“Holy Ra! I can hear them arguing from the roof.” Zia’s voice was loud in my ear and I jumped slightly, turning to see my girlfriend standing behind me, hands on her hips. She directed a glance at Walt, who had also been quiet throughout the exchange, asking, “Does it ever stop, or is it more of a constant background noise whenever these two are in the same room?”

Walt smiled wanly, “If you can find a way to make them stop yelling at each other for five minutes, that’ll be the strongest magic ever created.”

“Hey!” Sadie and I exclaimed simultaneously, each of us looking at our respective partners.

Walt laughed, Zia let out a cute half-snort half-laugh that quickly evolved into a full chuckle. Their mirth was tangible and I found myself joining in soon after. Sadie held up for an admirable ten seconds more before finally cracking a grin. For a moment, the silence was filled and things felt like they were back to normal.

Then Walt stopped laughing. My second in command straightened slightly, head tilting towards the front door as he frowned. Before any of us could ask, I felt it too. A thin string of magic snapping, breaking. Once again the Brooklyn house was plunged into that oppressive silence as all four of us directed our attention to the magical anomaly.

“Someone’s gotten through the western barrier.” Zia said, her voice low as if wary that the stillness would somehow be disturbed if she talked any louder. She had materialized her staff, holding it loosely.

“Magicians?”

“No.” Walt answered Sadie’s equally hushed question with a quiet shake of his head, one of his hands moving to hover around a charm. “Anubis isn’t sensing any honed magical signatures.”

“Monsters?” Zia suggested.

“None of our defenses have activated.” I pointed out, glancing at the _shabti’s_ flanking the main door. The statues remained still, their eyes lifeless and posture rigid. That meant whatever had entered the barrier wasn’t classified as a pre-determined threat.

 _This would be the ideal time for an attack_. I realized with a muttered curse. With most of our fellow magicians away for the weekend, Sadie, Walt, Zia and I were quite literally the last line of defense for the 21st Nome.

Gods how could I have been so _stupid_.

Sadie frowned. “So then what? Could some poor sod be rooting through the scrapyard? Maybe got too close and broke the warning barrier?”

The answer to that was no. The Brooklyn House had precautions set up to repel normal humans, keeping them away from the magical building with warding charms. Before I could explain this to my sister (who really should’ve known that already, but then again, this is Sadie I’m talking about) there was a sharp series of three raps on the door.

We stared at it in silence for a long minute, no one daring to speak.

I’m sure we were each wondering as to what exactly had managed to penetrate the defensive wards without activating _any_ of the magical protections that enveloped the Brooklyn House, because at the moment, the only thing between us and whatever was outside was a simple deadbolt lock.

_Knock knock knock-knock knock…. Knock knock._

I frowned at the familiar pattern. _Okay that… that was definitely a human thing to do._

The four of us exchanged wary looks. Sadie pulled out her wand and I prepared myself to cast a protective spell as we crept towards the door. I rested my hand on the doorknob, wishing I could see through the solid oak door (note to self: install viewport in main door or create a see-through-walls spell). _Come to think of it- why hadn’t anyone already created a spell like that? Seems like it’d be very useful-_ I shook the thoughts from my head, this wasn’t the time to be critical of the limitations of magic.

With one last glance at the others, I twisted the deadbolt and wrenched the door open, magic sparking at my fingertips in preparation to cast a counterspell at-

“Oh good, and here I thought we had the wrong magically-appearing-from-thin-air house in the middle of a junkyard.”

I blinked. “Leo?”

“The one and only!” The demigod announced with a flair of his hands out to either side and a wide grin. He was dressed warmly with a thick coat and long khakis and I could see the bottom of a familiar toolbelt sticking out from under the jacket. “See, I _told_ you there was a secret knock password.” He added over his shoulder with no small amount of pride.

Percy rolled his eyes from where he was standing just behind and to the mechanic’s left. Aside from the usual pair of jeans, the charcoal-haired boy was wearing a zip-up sports coat and a knitted blue beanie. A backpack was casually slung over one shoulder and his other arm was resting around a familiar blonde-haired girl (also wearing a blue knitted beanie) who smiled at us, saying, “Sorry we’re late. Hit some rush-hour traffic crossing the bridge.”

I heard Sadie’s soft ‘Ha!’ from behind me but my mind was still trying to catch up with the fact that they’d apparently driven here. “Traffic? But I thought… what happened to the flying boat?”

Leo’s face fell instantly, the hispanic’s shoulder slumping as he glared at the floor. “I don’t wanna talk about it.” He muttered somberly.

I instantly felt bad, my mouth opening to apologize. If they had driven here then something horrible must’ve befallen the ship, and with Leo’s abject response it could mean that Festus-

“It’s been grounded until further notice,” Annabeth explained, sending a apologetic look towards the younger demigod. “Chiron’s barred any unapproved flights for the foreseeable future, so it hasn’t flown in a few weeks.”

_Wait… grounded?_

“Which is absolutely _appalling!_ ” Leo bemoaned, sounding for all the world like he’d had his heart ripped open. “My baby’s being punished after helping save the world and now I can’t even run her engines without having to get the old centaurs approval! They have _no_ respect for my machines- _none!_ ”

I laughed. I couldn’t help it- even though it had only been a few weeks, I had missed the demigods.

“And here I thought something terrible had happened.” Sadie commented, wand no longer held at the ready.

Leo gaped at her, “Terrible? It’s a _travesty_ -”

“We know, Leo. You said that twelve times already on the way over.” Percy interjected with a huff. “You can tell them all about it but I think first we should get out of this cold.”

The not-so-subtle suggestion reminded me that I was still standing in the doorway and I stepped back, allowing our guests to cross over the threshold before I let the door to swing shut, cutting off the chilled evening air.

Percy sighed happily, unzipping his sweater. “Much better. Gods I hate winter.”

“You said it.” The fire elementalist agreed with a solemn nod.

“He prefers summer.” Annabeth said to me with a smirk as we headed further into the Great Room. “Beach season is his favorite season.”

That made sense. He _was_ the son of a sea god. “I’m just glad you were all able to make it. We were beginning to wonder if you were coming.”

“Yeah, Percy’s mom couldn’t find the place at first.” The Daughter of Athena admitted with a frown. “Kept driving past the junkyard and then _swearing_ she hadn’t seen it. Magic barriers of some kind, I’m guessing?”

I’d forgotten how nice it was to converse with someone who actually knew how to use their brain. “Yup. To be fair, we were expecting you to come in from the roof, not the front door.”

“Your mom drove you here?” Sadie raised an eyebrow. “Do you not have cars of your own?”

“Nope.” Percy answered cheerily. “Oh- and speaking of, she made these for you,” he rummaged around in his backpack for a second before pulling out a colorfully wrapped package. “Early Christmas presents and all that.”

He handed the bundle to Sadie who wasted no time in tearing off the paper. She frowned down at the mass of blue, lifting one of the beanies up for the rest of us to see. It was the same hand-knit style as the ones Percy and Annabeth were wearing.

“Uhh, thanks?”

I elbowed her none to gently. “Don’t be rude.”

Percy chuckled, not seeming to be offended by Sadie’s blunt mannerisms. “It’s fine. Mom just got _really_ into the hobby- she’s starting to make matching mittens now.”

“I think it’s a kind gesture.” Walt said, taking one and fitting it onto his head. It was bigger than he’d anticipated, the edges nearly covering his eyes, but he folded up the side so he could see. “Please give her our thanks when you see her.”

Sadie tossed one to me and one to Zia, who held it like it was a bomb that was about to go off. Then she pursed her lips, looking up at Leo. “Did you not get one?”

“Oh, no,” Leo’s cheeks reddened slightly and he pulled out a blue beanie from one of his toolbelt pouches. “I got one, I just didn’t want to, uh, accidentally set it on fire.”

Zia scoffed. “If you’re still struggling to control your flames then my matchup will be easy.”

“Matchup?” Annabeth raised an eyebrow. “So the competition is predetermined, not random?”

“Well, yes and no.” I said. “The competition will start tomorrow, but Walt and I already came up with the pairs in a way that’s the most fair. Leo and Zia are one pair, since they can both control fire. Percy and I are the second, seeing as we both rely on swordsmanship. And Annabeth and Sadie are the last duo.”

“Hang on, how is that fair?” Sadie frowned. “I can use long range magic- and, well, magic period- but Annabeth only has her dagger.”

Annabeth’s lip twitched up into a knowing smile at the assessment, and I mirrored the expression. Knowing the Daughter of Athena, she’d probably already run through all the possible matchups and calculated the best ways in which to counter her opponent’s advantages. I had no reservations that whoever she ended up competing against would be hard pressed to find an easy victory.

Instead of saying that, however, I simply shrugged. “It balances out because Annabeth has a brain and you don’t.” Sadie sputtered out a protest but I wasn’t done talking. “As for the _actual_ tournament, the specifics of each event are classified. Walt and Felix created them so only they know the details. That way we’re all on even footing, so to speak; none of us get any hints as to what’s to come.”

“Gotta think on our feet, eh?” Percy’s grin was wolflike as he rested a hand on his hip. “I can appreciate that.”

“So it’s me versus Flameo Hotman?” Leo nodded a few times, fingers drumming against the side of his toolbelt, a far off look in his eyes. “In that case I might need to make some last minute adjustments.” He mused quietly to himself.

Zia eyes twitched at the nickname, folded arms tensing as the air above her head distorted with heat.

Before it could escalate any further, I cleared my throat, stepping in between the two hotheads. “Right, well, it’s already late, so we’ll let you guys get situated. We’ll meet in the dining room for breakfast and then,” I looked at the demigods, feeling more than seeing Sadie and Walt straighten from their relaxed stances behind me. “Then the _real_ fun can begin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fin! Thanks for reading!  
> Again, I'll be working to update this weekly on Fridays for the next 4-ish weeks (four more chapters minimum, some might need to be split in two is they run long) before getting into When Worlds Collide Book 2 (Title TBD).
> 
> p.s. The next installment of Leo's Logbook will be updated this Sunday!


	3. Round One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo v Zia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all!
> 
> Is it still Friday? *Checks clock to see it is in fact 2am EST* Hmmm..... gonna take that as a yes.  
> My flight back home was delayed so I apologize for the 2-hour late post. I knew I wouldn't be able to get this out until later tonight but I was still hoping to officially publish by midnight.
> 
> Oops.
> 
> Anyway, here is chapter 3 of The Brooklyn House Championship!  
> Enjoy!  
> <3

**(Alternating Leo/Zia POV)**

Leo was late to breakfast the next morning. He’d spent most of last night recalibrating his babies in preparation for the tournament; namely, ensuring that they would be fireproof now that he knew exactly who his opponent was going to be for whatever challenge Felix and Walt had planned. During their week of training, that had been one aspect of the games that Annabeth had enjoyed coaching him and Percy on.

_ “If it’s anything like the games we play at camp, then most of them should be one-on-one challenges.” Annabeth said, pacing around the open space in Cabin Three. Percy was lounging on a hammock strung up between two support beams while Leo found himself sitting cross legged on one of the tables in the main room. “So we have to be ready for any pairings.” _

_ Leo raised a hand, feeling very much like he was back in school- complete with not fully understanding what the teacher was taling about. “What if it’s a group game like Capture the Flag? Or a free for all like King of Mount Olympus?” _

_ Annabeth nodded in acknowledgement of the point. “If it is a free for all then these strategies should work anyway, you’ll just have to factor in all of them at the same time. As for team games,” she tapped her chin thoughtfully, “we can work on those later. For now, we should focus on strengthening our individual combat techniques against the Egyptians.” _

_ “So,” she turned to Leo, smiling (and Leo never realized how terrifying Annabeth could look while grinning). “Let’s get started.” _

What had followed was an intense discussion about powers and machines, and from it all bloomed a plan. One that Leo was hardly about to let fail just because his secret weapons weren’t fine tuned for the one person in the group who could melt them. As a result of his tinkering, he’d woken up in the late morning blinking bleary eyes at the harsh sunlight that filtered in through the window of his bedroom, glancing at the perfectly made up bed before stretching and leaving to find the others.

He walked into the kitchen at around nine forty-five, a wide yawn splitting his face, his clothes- the same ones he’d been wearing yesterday upon arrival- looking rumpled and his hair as unkempt as ever. He sauntered over to the fridge, grabbing a hot pocket and tossing it into the microwave, oblivious to the attention of the others in the room.

“Good morning.” Carter finally spoke when it was clear that the mechanic was still in the process of waking up fully.

Leo smiled tiredly at him. “So it would appear my dear Watson.” He noted that Walt and Felix were missing from the assembled group, he briefly wondered where they were before filing it away for future Leo to wonder about. Present Leo was more interested in the smell of a warming pastry stuffed with meat, jalapenos and cheese.

Annabeth quirked a grin at the reference while Percy raised an eyebrow at their fellow demigods disheveled appearance. “Did you not sleep well or something?” He asked.

“Did you sleep at all?” Sadie added, taking another sip from her coffee.

“Eh,” Leo shrugged, leaning against the countertop and fighting back another yawn. “Sleeping is overrated.”

“Clearly,” Zia said with a pointed nod to the microwave behind him. “Because you  _ intentionally _ left the wrapper on the hot pocket you just heated up.”

With a curse, Leo spun around, yanking open the appliance door to find- yup, he’d left the plastic on and now it had melted spectacularly to the glass plate. He made a noise somewhere between a whine and a groan as everyone else laughed. 

“Yeah, well, I wasn’t all that hungry anyway.” He huffed, using a paper towel to grab the wasted food and drop it in the trash can.

Zia snorted, leaning back in her chair and tucking her hands behind her head. “You want to go up against me both sleep deprived  _ and _ on an empty stomach?” When Leo turned back towards the table he saw that her eyes were sharp with smug confidence. “Do I even need to show up at ten thirty or should we just declare my victory now?”

Leo shrugged a shoulder, feeling himself grin at the snark. “I could also go blindfolded and tie one hand behind my back if you think you’ll need the handicap.” The challenge in his words made her bristle, the fire elementalist’s chair slamming back down on all four legs as she glared.

“Bring it on,  _ charmander _ .” Zia shot back. “I’m gonna burn that grin right off your stupid face.”

Silence filled the kitchen as the mechanic gaped at her for a solid four seconds. Then said grin returned in full force, pride sparkling in his widened eyes. “Did y- did you just make a pokemon reference?” When Zia’s cheeks darkened in embarrassment Leo clapped his hands together. “You _did!_ I am _so_ _proud_ of you!”

The glare Zia leveled him with promised death, the temperature around the fire elementalist spiking so that everyone instinctively leaned away to avoid getting scorched (sans Leo, who was still beaming like the worlds most pleased parent). What had been a small heat wave quickly turned into a sauna.

Carter raised a placating hand in his girlfriends direction. “Hey now, save it for the games.”

“What’s the schedule for them anyway?” Annabeth asked as the fire elementalist cooled off. “Is everyone going today, or…” She let the sentence hang, allowing Carter to pick up the answer.

“The order for today is Leo and Zia, then lunch, then myself and Percy. You and Sadie will be going tomorrow morning- Walt said something about needing more time to set up for that challenge.”

Grey eyes flashed with intrigue and Annabeth nodded.

“Works for me,” Sadie said. “We’ll save the best for last.”

Carter rolled his eyes. “Felix and Walt are getting the first round ready now, they said we should head up to the balcony level in about fifteen minutes while you two,” he gestured to the two fire-wielders of the group, “will wait outside the training room.”

_ No spoilers until the very last moment, huh? _ Leo wasn’t worried about that, the demigod resting a hand on the thick strap of his toolbelt. At ten twenty-five, Leo and Zia found themselves standing outside of the aforementioned room, the former having scarfed down a slightly browned banana in lieu of the failed hot pocket.

Zia stood tall, her posture straight and rigid and hair pulled back away from her face. In her hand was her staff- the same one she’d used to threaten Leo with when they’d first met. She projected an outwards appearance of calm, collected confidence, in stark contrast to the demigod who was nervously fiddling with some spare parts from his toolbelt, a foot tapping out a random rhythm on the tiled floor.

Adrenalin was already starting to pump through his system and the door hadn’t even opened yet for gods sake!

Leo spared another sideways glance at Zia, the elementalist’s jaw ticking briefly before an annoyed “What?” was growled out through tight lips.

“Oh, um, nothing.” Leo winced as his voice cracked slightly. “I just, uh, just wanted to say good luck.”

That caused the rigid statue of a girl to turn her head, bewildered as she parroted his words. “Good luck?”

“Yeah,”  _ People normally said that before a competition, right? _ Leo was pretty sure they did. “Let’s have some fun. A-and no hard feelings, whatever the outcome.”

Zia tsked, looking away from him once more.

Before Leo could say anything else, the door in front of them groaned, swinging open under its own volition (magical, not mechanical) to admit them into the room. A blast of frigid air washed over them and Leo shivered, the chill reminding him of Kihone’s icy fortress. Zia smirked at the sight, the fire elementalist seemingly unphased by the drop in temperature.

“Keep your luck.” She said, stepping into the room. “You’re gonna need it.”

* * *

_ Felix really outdid himself this time. _ I thought as I entered the training hall.

What was normally a  _ huge _ open court was now a small sliver of the room sectioned off by a massive ice wall stretching easily fifteen feet tall. There was a line of white chalk marked on the ground with the word “Start” on one side; our challenge was some kind of race then. I couldn’t see what was beyond the frosted barrier, but by the temperature of the room I assumed more ice-based creations. In my periphery, the demigod stepped up next to me, his hands rubbing up and down his exposed arms in an attempt to warm them.

I sighed internally at the sight.  _ So much for learning how to control his flames _ .

It seems that in our brief time apart, Leo hadn’t practiced all that much on his elemental control. For some reason the fact stung worse than any of his good-natured jabs and poor quality jokes. Because it felt like all that time we’d spent (and, okay, it had only been a few hours but he  _ had _ been getting better) had gone to waste. At least here, with an undoubtedly Felix-inspired challenge based around ice, the demigod might realize the importance of training his fire: after all, what was an elementalist without their element?

I cast my gaze up to the top of the room, seeing Felix and Walt and the others watching down from the overhanging balcony that ringed the room. Carter flashed me a thumbs up as Walt cleared his throat, the sound echoing loudly in the hall.

“Welcome,” He said, and his words were amplified by magic to be heard easily even from the height difference, “to the first challenge of the Brooklyn House Championship: an obstacle course race between Leo Valdez and Zia Rashid.”

_ An obstacle course? _ So I’d been half right.

“The rules are as follows,” Walt continued. “Whoever completes all five obstacles in the fastest time will be declared the winner. If you skip any of the obstacles, do them out of order, or are unable to complete them you will be disqualified. The use of magic, powers, etcetera is permitted, as are any attempts to slow down your opponent. The first to cross the finish line on the opposite end of the training room shall be declared victorious. Are there any questions?”

I shook my head in the negative as did Leo. He was no longer shivering, and there were actually tiny embers of flame dancing among his curly mop of hair as he crouched slightly, prepping to take off at a run.

Walt raised his hand. “On your marks.”

I looked away from Leo, refocusing on the wall in front of me.

“Get set.”

My body weight dropped down, knees bent and muscles tensed.

The arm dropped. “Go!”

We both took off at a run, racing towards the wall. Leo pulled ahead of me, the demigods lanky legs carrying him farther than my own. He reached the ice first, pulling out two hammers from his toolbelt and stabbing them into the ice. Grunting, he began pulling himself up the wall, using the tools as ice picks while his steel-toe shoes dug into the grooves they left behind.

What a waste of effort. Instead of pointing it out to him, however, I simply channeled magic through my staff, blasting a column of fire at my section of the wall and watching the lower section of the carefully constructed barrier melt. After another moment I cut it off, moving forward only to find that I’d only made a six foot cave in the wall.  _ Huh, this is some thick ice _ . Channeling my flames again, I moved forward into the space I created, increasing the intensity of the heat and burning away the frozen obstacle. Ten seconds passed, then twenty, then thirty. When I was nearing a full minute of creating my very own ice tunnel I began to wonder if the damn ice wall would ever end.

No sooner than I thought it, my flames surged, fed by the additional oxygen as I  _ finally _ reached the other side. I paused for a moment, catching my breath and glaring up at Felix, who was grinning down with the biggest smile on his face. Walt had an all-knowing look on his face, nodding as if he’d expected this outcome.

_ Jerks _ . They must’ve known I would try and melt the wall.

Even so, it’d been faster than trying to climb it. I looked back to see if Leo had managed to reach the top yet and saw that-

Wait. I frowned.

Was that… was that a  _ slide? _

Sure enough, the backside of the wall where Leo was climbing was sloped into an ice slide, sloping down before curving back up sharply at the end. A quick glance told me that my side of the wall had been shaped in the same manner, only now there was a melted tunnel running through the entire thing.

_ But why would they- _ my frown of confusion vanished upon seeing the next obstacle, clarity taking its place as I cursed.

It was a pit jump.

Suspended over a wide pool of water were two ropes hanging from a connected set of A-frames. The knotted hemp was dangling limply over the center of the water, much too far from the edge for me to be able to reach it without having to jump for it- and even then I doubted I’d be able to cross the distance without some kind of assistance.

_ Hence the slide _ .

In hindsight, I should have figured they’d do something like this, but I didn’t have the luxury of a do over so press on I did. I raised my hand, channeling divine magic as I spoke the command, “ _ I-ei! _ ” The hieroglyph for ‘come’ burned a neon violet in front of my hand, the rope on the right swinging back towards me as far as it could.

It was still a good four feet out over the pool, and I bit off a groan: looks like I’d have to jump after all. I took a few steps back, bunching my legs under me and sending one last look at the left side of the wall (Leo had scaled to the top but was just  _ standing there _ and peering off into the distance at something) before moving. When I reached the edge I leapt, pushing a hand down towards the ground and shouting, “ _ Su’uda! _ ”

With the help of magic I was propelled further into the air, my arc taking me neatly to the rope which I grabbed, using the momentum to swing towards the opposite shore. I let go at the apex but even then I almost fell short, my feet just barely touching solid ground, arms windmilling to keep myself from falling backwards into the water.

There was a shout of “Geronimo!” from behind me and I turned to see Leo skidding down the ice slide on a metal shield-  _ where did he even  _ get _ that? _ \- like it was a sled and launching himself towards the rope. Walt’s rules about the competition came to mind and I flung out my staff, calling “ _ Hu-Ai!”  _ just as Leo reached the end of the slide.

True to the spell his shield fell, splashing into the water. Leo, on the other hand, managed to somehow snag the rope despite the magic (divine words were never really my area of expertise, so I didn’t expect it to work perfectly), booted feet skimming the water as he swung.

The demigod let go, flying through the air uncontrollably only to crash down in an undignified heap with an audible groan.

“That’s cheating!” He groused, rolling onto his side and beginning to push himself up. “She can’t do that!” He complained up towards the balcony.

“Technically she can.” Walt corrected with an apologetic shrug. “It’s magic so it counts within the bounds of the rules.”

“Cheating.” Leo insisted, standing slowly, but I wasn’t going to let up just because the demigod thought it was unfair.

Sending an encore of the spell his way, she didn’t wait to see him fall back down (but did hear his annoyed shout of ‘Hey!’) before sprinting towards the next obstacle.

* * *

Leo picked himself up off the floor for a second time with a growl of annoyance.

Magic was  _ so _ cheating.

He was already behind though, so he wasted no time in taking off after the fire elementalist. His legs burned a bit with the exertion. Climbing that wall hadn’t been easy, but he was ultimately glad of his choice to do so. When Walt had said there were five obstacles, Leo had instantly recognized the opportunity presented to him with the first: A wall that large was sure to provide a good view of the rest of the course. His intuition had paid off already, as he knew that beyond the ten foot high balance beam- which was also made of ice- was a stone maze (notably: a material that  _ couldn’t  _ be melted through) and he’d taken a moment to activate one of his many machines. The drone was already hovering over the maze, mapping out the route from above and sending the information to an old PSP he’d repurposed as a data receiver.

Leo grinned as he climbed up to the balance beam: and Sadie thought not having magic would put them at a disadvantage.

_ “You won’t have magic so you’ll be at a disadvantage there.” Annabeth said, circling the word on the white board she’d set up in Poseidon’s cabin: their new ‘official’ training-to-beat-the-egyptians headquarters. _

_ “But I can control fire.” Leo pointed out, internally putting air quotes around the word ‘control’. It wasn’t like he hadn’t practiced since his lesson with the fire elementalist, but he was still nervous about his flames getting too unmanageable so he’d kept the sessions short and limited. _

_ “And Percy can control water,” Annabeth agreed, “but those powers are limited in their uses. Magic, on the other hand, has a wide range of possibilities.” She paused for a moment, getting a far-off look that Leo had come to recognize throughout the week. It usually meant she was exploring a multitude of possibilities and he coughed lightly to pull her back on track. Annabeth blinked twice, then shook her head. “Anyway, the main thing is, if you rely on your godly abilities alone, you’ll never win in a straight out fight.” _

_ Leo’s shoulders slumped in defeat. “Well that’s just great. Good to know I don’t stand a chance.” _

_ “It is.” The Daughter of Athena’s words were earnest despite the less-than-optimistic assessment. “What I’m saying is that you can’t match them in  _ fair _ fight. And if that’s the case then just don’t  _ fight _ fair.” _

Leo’s smile widened when he saw that Zia had already made it halfway across her balance beam, her feet melting the ice as she walked across, creating diverted footprints that let her traverse the ice.

It was about time he stopped playing by their rules.

(Metaphorically, of course. He wasn’t going to cheat to win.)

Pulling out another gadget, Leo took careful aim, lobbing the device towards the platform on the far end of his beam where it landed, four prongs piercing into the stone steps leading down from the ice. Then he clipped the other half on his toolbelt and turned to Zia.

“Hey candlestick!” He called, watching her turn to frown at him. Leo waved one hand and pointed with the other at the set of stairs on her balance beam closer to him where the ice was fused with stone. “If you can use magic then it’s not cheating if I do this, right?”

Zia’s eyes narrowed, then widened when Leo summoned a ball of flame, blasting it towards the connection and melting the ice on one end of her beam. She let out a curse as the ice fractured, the end furthest from her dropping down to the floor and creating an upwards slope towards the other side. The fire elementalist managed to latch onto one of the footprint divots to stop her fall, but not before she’d slid down a few feet.

As the fire elementalist scrabbled to find a purchase, Leo began shuffling his way across the plank of ice, knowing he had only a few seconds before the magician replied in kind. He was about halfway across when the column of fire severed the far side of his own beam. The ice snapped with a sharp  _ crack _ and Leo activated the device, dropping down to hug the beam as it, too, began to tilt and gravity tried to pull him back down.

Key word: Tried.

The mechanism on the platform whirred to life, and the magnetic clip he’d snapped to his belt responded in kind, dragging him up what was now essentially a ramp. The ice was cold on his skin and Leo was sure that he would have some kind of friction-freezer burn from the ride, but he couldn’t hold back a whoop of delight as he pulled himself up onto the stone platform.

“Thanks for the assist!” He called down to the elementalist, who was staring, openmouthed at the demigod. “I’ll save you some Hot Pockets when I win!”

And now there was  _ definitely _ steam coming from where her hands and feet were digging into the ice beam. Not wanting to stick around and become victim to her wrath, Leo waved a quick goodbye before making his way down the stone steps towards the maze. The mechanic pulled out the PSP, skimming over the layout of the maze as he ate up the distance between the two obstacles.

There was only one entrance but the path split almost immediately. It didn’t matter which way you chose to go, both the left and the right had a path to the exit, but from the drone’s overhead view Leo could see that the left side was a more direct path with less dead ends. There were also pale blue dots in some places, an indication that Leo quickly learned meant that there was an ice penguin guarding the path.

With one hand holding the PSP, he used the other to pull out his hammer and smash at the adorable frozen creatures. He slammed the metal mallet into the side of the first penguin, fully expecting the ice to shatter or break like it had done for all of the other challenges. So when the blow barely left a dent, Leo was surprised to say the least. He attempted to whack the club-weilding penguin a few more times, dodging out of the way of it’s retaliatory attacks in the process, but the ice barely cracked. After another few hits Leo resigned himself to the fact that Percy had been right: Felix’s penguins were  _ hard _ to kill.

As he rolled to the side of another swing, he idly wondered if Zia had caught up to him yet or if she’d gotten lost in the maze. The thought of the fire elementalist sparked an idea and Leo disengaged, stowing his hammer back in his toolbelt.

Concentrating, Leo held out his now empty hand, summoning flames to his palm. Taking a controlled breath, he shaped them until they formed a short sword (it was really more of a stick, if he was being honest). The next time the penguin charged in Leo held his ground, side-stepping at the last moment and slicing the fire across the center of the ice. The animated creature sizzled and hissed before the top half slid off, the bottom simply tipping over to clatter onto the floor.

Grinning, Leo dispersed the fire, panting slightly at the exertion.

“Alright,” he said to himself, looking back down at the map. “Let’s try and avoid those guys.” After all, there was still one obstacle left after the maze. One he hadn’t seen from the ice wall at the start.

The rest of the maze was a simple matter of not misreading the map his drone had provided him and doing his best to avoid the ice penguins. He was more successful in the former, not so much in the latter- the path leading him to at least four more fights with Felix’s frozen creations before he reached the maze’s exit. Leo paused for a moment, leaning against the stone wall of the maze to catch his breath, a hand pressed to his side.

Gods he was out of shape. Leo made a mental note to be more active when they got back to camp, knowing full well that the likelihood of him actually following through on that resolution was slim at best. He allowed himself another fifteen seconds of relaxation before pushing off of the stone and moving forward towards the last obstacle.

The maze had let out onto a large section of the room, encircled in ice with a single door on the far side of the space with the word “Finish” on it.

And between him and the finish line was-

Leo swallowed.

“Oh  _ shit _ .”

* * *

I was half tempted to see if this stone had a melting point. I was sure it did, all things would melt under enough heat, but as confident as I was in that fact I was also well aware that my expenditure of magic was beginning to take its toll. My breathing came heavy as I rounded a corner, growling in frustration when I found herself looking at yet  _ another _ dead end.

A dead end with one of Felix’s penguins.

With a yell, I flexed my hand out, melting the flightless frozen bird in a single, intense blast before turning and retracing the steps I’d taken.

Left, then right, right again, then left… or was it another right?

Damn it- I couldn’t remember. I turned another corner blindly, internally berating myself for falling so far behind. I couldn’t  _ believe _ the demigod had goaded me into giving him a free pass on the last obstacle! Carter had once said that I was too hotheaded at times, and I was starting to believe him. The next turn I took brought me to the site of another of Felix’s penguins, only, this one was already destroyed, the ice already melting into a puddle. It had been cut cleanly in a singular slice through the middle in a manner that I was readily familiar with.

Leo had been here, and the demigod had used a weapon of flames.

I was torn between feeling impressed and annoyed at the fact that he still held the skills to create something like that but was still struggling with basic element fundamentals. I settled for baffled and was about to move on when I noticed another puddle seeping around the corner of the far hallway.

With a smile, I followed the trail Leo had unwittingly blazed for me, looking for shards of ice or spots of water left behind by his fights with Felix’s penguins. I reached the end of the maze within two minutes, my smile at having successfully navigated the stone structure fading as I beheld the scene before me.

_ What in  _ Ra _ were Walt and Felix  _ thinking _? _

Shards of ice stuck up in multiple places from the floor, stabbing into the sky like jagged teeth. The ground was cracked in a few places- small fissures gaping like ragged cuts in the floor and small craggs of boulders having smashed into the ground. Among the carnage was a Guardian. An enlarged  _ shabti  _ that was an amalgamation of stone and ice, looming seven feet tall and holding a lance in it’s grip. I stared at it in awe. All  _ shabti’s _ were magically enhanced stones, as were the larger Guardans that protected some of the more precious temples; but I’d never heard of, or seen one made (partially or not) of  _ ice _ before. As I watched, it stabbed forwards, the snap of magic filling the air as a geyser of ice erupted from where it had struck.

I heard a yelp and there was movement to my left as I saw Leo just barely duck behind one of the boulders to avoid the ice. He poked his head out on the other side, then suddenly looked back towards the exit of the maze, gaze locking with mine and eyes widening as he shouted out a warning.

“Zia duck!”

There was a groaning sound and I snapped my eyes back to the Guardian in time to see it hurl a chuck of rock in my direction. I dove to the side, feeling the ground shatter behind me as the boulder smashed into the stone wall of the maze, the rubble collapsing down over the exit and cutting of any form of retreat. I pushed myself up, grunting as my limbs burned from the earlier obstacles, protesting the intense workout.

I mentally told them to shut up and get over it.

By the time I’d regained my footing, the Guardian had already turned to face me fully, lance thrusting towards me for another burst of ice. I knew I wouldn’t be able to dodge in time, instead gathering my magic in preparation for a burst of flames to melt the ice. But before it struck the ground, a concentrated blast of fire hit it from the side, making it miss the intended mark, sending the resultant ice off to my right.

“Oi- Rocky! Over here!”

My head swiveled back over to Leo, who’d abandoned his cover and was now shouting and waving his arms above his head. He was… covering for me? Not wanting to let his distraction be for naught, I ran to the relative safety of the most recent ice column, crouching behind it and watching as Leo led the Guardian on a goose chase between the already formed impediments.

As the Guardian moved out of the way, I saw what was on the other side of this section of the course: a door with the word “Finish” written in bright white chalk. For a moment, I considered making a break for it. The Guardian was preoccupied with Leo at the moment, leaving the way clear for me to reach the end of the course without interference. But then I looked back to where Leo was dodging another thrown boulder, the demigod’s chest heaving as he lunged to the side, just barely avoiding being squashed, and my resolve burned bright.

No. If I was going to win it would  _ not _ be because I allowed my opponent to just  _ give _ me the victory.

Stepping out from my hiding spot, I pointed my staff at the Guardian, channeling divine power through my call of “ _ Qaf! _ ” The Guardian stopped mid throw, frozen in time by the spell. It was only temporary, however, and i could already feel my magical reserves straining to maintain a hold over the magically enhanced  _ shabti _ .

“If you have a plan to stop this thing,” I called over to the demigod. “Do it now!”

Leo’s gaze ping-ponged between me and the Guardian for a precious second before understand ing dawned on his face. “Gimme fifteen seconds.” He called, before running into the mess of ice and stone and out of my line of sight.

“You have ten!” I shouted back, not entirely sure if he’d heard me or not, but not able to focus on whatever the mechanic was doing. All of my concentration was consumed with holding the Guardian in place. I could feel it’s magic fighting mine, and I was again surprised at just how strong this thing was considering it was half-ice. Ice in general was a difficult conduit for magic. Felix had basically discovered the field himself with his stubborn desire to craft things with magic, but there was no god of ice in the Egyptian Pantheon of which to draw that power  _ from _ . As such, ice magic was more of a manipulation of water magic, and channeline power  _ through _ ice was something that always yielded impotent results.

And yet this Guardian was not only matching my own power, but was  _ winning _ .

I felt the spell wane and managed to call out a warning before the magic broke, the Guardian resuming its attack. A fissure severed the ground in front of it, the crack snaking all the way to the ice wall surrounding them. Then it turned, seeking the next enemy and honing in on me.

I wouldn’t be able to deflect this time, whatever magical reserves I had having gone into that last spell. The Guardian raised the lance, and I watched it all unfold as if it were in slow motion. The only option I had was to dodge, my legs feeling laden and heavy with the amount of energy I’d already spent during the rest of the obstacle course. Gritting my teeth, I prepared to move, shoving the exhaustion from my limbs.

I wouldn't give up now.

“Done!”

The shout come from my right but I couldn’t spare it a thought as the Guardian struck forward. There was a cackle in the air as I vaulted to the side to avoid the ice streaking my way. I grunted as I hit the ground, rolling a few feet before coming to a stop. The crackling sound persisted and I looked up to see streaks of electricity arcing from some of the stone structures to the ice parts of the Guardian. It illuminated the clear material, from within and with a shuddering snap the chunks broke apart from the main statue. The shattered pieces fell and I sensed the magic within the Guardian wane, the stone protector crashing to the floor.

My heart was hammering in my chest as I panted. That had been too close.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed myself up, wobbling for a moment before regaining solid footing. Leo grinned at me from across one of the fissures, shooting me a thumbs up. Now that I could actually look, I saw that he was covered in dust and smears of dirt. His shirt and pants were soaked in some places and parts of his sleeve had been singed. He was breathing just as heavily as I was, one hand holding onto some kind of remote with a button that- when he stopped pressing it- shut off the electricity.

“It was crystal.” Leo said between breaths, looking back at the fallen Guardian. “Not ice. At first I thought… but it didn’t melt, so…” he shook his head as if trying to focus and it was then that I saw the thin trail of blood dripping down from his hairline.

“You’re bleeding.” I pointed out, and he reached up a hand to the side of his head, staring at the fingers that came back coated in red.

“Huh.” He said dazedly, blinking at them. “So that’s why the room is spinning.”

Leo’s body tilted dangerously to the side and I took hurried steps forward, thinking he was about to fall, but the mechanic caught himself on one of the rocks and guided himself down so that he was sitting on the floor.

“I’m fine,” He said as I drew a breath to ask if he was okay, “Just a graze, but I… might need an ice pack.” Then he laughed. “An ice pack, I say. When there’s ice…. All around us.”

I was seriously starting to worry that he’d gotten permanent brain damage.

He looked up at me again and blinked, the grin still on his face. “Well?” He asked, head tilting towards the door. “You gonna win this thing or what?”

Right. Because we were still technically in a competition.

“You’re not giving me the win.” I told him.

“Nope.” He agreed.

“I won this fair and square.”

“Yup.” He nodded, then winced at the motion.

“You lost because you didn’t technically complete the last challenge.”

“Technically.”

“And for the record, I could’ve beaten the Guardian without your help.”

“‘Course you could’ve.”

I glared at him. He smiled back.

Squaring my shoulders, I walked towards the door, not allowing myself to turn back and forfeit because as we’d both just agreed, I’d won the competition based on the rules laid out by Walt at the beginning. No matter how many times I said it, I still wouldn’t accept it as the truth even when I opened the door, hearing Walt’s voice echo around the training room as he declared, “The winner of round one is: Zia!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fin! Thanks for reading!
> 
> Yup. Zia TOTALLY won. No disputes here.
> 
> Next chapter will be up on Friday (before midnight, this time) next week so look for it then!  
> Enjoy the weekend!  
> <3


	4. Round 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy v. Carter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all!
> 
> So let me foreword this chapter with an apology. I received the second COVID vaccine shot last Thursday and was NOT expecting the side effects to put me out of commission for an entire weekend. I don't even remember most of Saturday, it's honestly a blur between being way too hot and way too cold and all the while my brain felt like it was trying to forcibly extract itself from my head.
> 
> I say as if I have a brain to begin with.
> 
> The good news is that my fever broke this morning and I'm feeling almost back to normal, so the side effects were harsh but temporary. Silver linings, I suppose.
> 
> If you read all that, then thank you for your patience. I hope you enjoy the next chapter of the Brooklyn House Championship!  
> <3

**(Alternating Percy/Carter POV)**

Percy whistled as he looked down at the chaos of ice and stone. He had to admit, the obstacle course challenge had been pretty neat: the combination of elements, and not just the literal ones of ice and stone but the intermixing of physical efforts and intellectual strategizing, was something the Son of Poseidon hadn’t expected.

It made him excited for his own matchup against the older Kane.

Carter had watched the first round with a critical eye, he and Annabeth talking in muted tones about each hurdle and the participants ability and plans to overcome them. Now the magician was smiling down at Zia as Walt announced her as the victor.

He voiced Percy’s own inner musings a moment later, turning to Walt and Felix with a proud gleam to his eyes. “You guys really outdid yourselves.”

“No kidding.” Sadie agreed, reaching out to ruffle Felix’s head- a motion which the kid expertly ducked away from with a grin of his own.

“Walt came up with the Guardian design.” He said. “After all of the ice obstacles he figured that they wouldn’t realize the golem was made of crystal.”

“Not to mention that crystal amplifies magic,” Carter shot an impressed glance at the charm maker. “Clever.”

“But not impossible to defeat.” Annabeth pointed out. “Crystal is much more conductive than ice, so while fire didn’t have much of an effect, the electrical conduits Leo made were able to shatter it with ease. I’m honestly surprised he figured it out so quickly.” She added quietly with a thoughtful frown. It was replaced a moment later with an easy smile. “Shall we go down and congratulate them?”

There was a chorus of agreement and everyone aside from Walt began making their way down to the lower level, the magician citing the need to clean up the training room in preparation for the next event. Felix practically skipped down the stairs, jumping the last four in a single bound and rushing over to where Zia was helping Leo to his feet. The mechanic wobbled a bit, but stayed standing, a bright laugh resonating through the area as they approached.

Percy’s grin faded slightly when he got closer and saw the thin trail of blood trickling down the side of his fellow demigod’s face. “Hey, you okay? You’re-”

“Bleeding, yup, got it.” Leo interrupted, waving off Percy’s concern. “No worries, Aquaman, it’s just a graze.”

Felix didn’t look as convinced, the kid worrying his bottom lip. “But you weren’t supposed to get hurt…” His gaze slid over to survey the fractured training room where the _shabti_ statues were already beginning to fix the damage.

Seeing the clear distress, Leo hurried to say, “What, this? This is nothing that a little bandaid won’t fix. Your course was _awesome_ ! You _gotta_ show me how you made that giant ice slide- I think if we changed the angle of the upward slope you could get some serious airtime!”

Felix sniffed. “Really?”

“ _Absolutely!_ ” Leo nodded emphatically. “You guys have a pool on the balcony right? I think we could easily break the world record for biggest cannon-ball splash with a slide like that.” At the suggestion, Felix’s mood returned to it’s normal enthusiasm, excitement lighting his wide eyes.

“Let’s go try it!”

Annabeth stepped forward before the two could go running off. “Before that,” she said, “we should still get you both checked out, just in case.”

“Is Jaz around?” Percy asked. When they’d first received the invitation, Carter had said that the competition would be pretty limited in who was in attendance; and though he hadn’t seen the medic so far, surely it would make sense for the girl to be on standby in the event of something like this.

“No,” Carter shook his head in the negative. “Jaz went with Cleo and the others to Tennessee. But she did restock her supplies in the infirmary, including some potions, in preparation.”

“I can help.” Annabeth offered, “I know some basic field medicine.”

Percy held back a snort at the modest assessment. She knew more than just the basics. Ever since coming back from Tartarus, the Daughter of Athena had poured over medical texts and unconventional healing techniques in case they ever found themselves stuck in a similar situation. She’d even talked at length with Will Solace (in the rare moment he was alone and _not_ spending time with Nico Di’Angelo) about the best ways to splint broken bones and bandage sprained joints.

“Oh great,” Leo rolled his eyes in an exaggerated fashion, leaning down to mock whisper to Felix. “Can you conjure one of your penguins to take mine for me? Medicine is disgusting!”

The kid snickered, following behind as they made their way out of the training hall. While he, Carter, Zia, Leo and Annabeth headed for the infirmary, Percy and Sadie hung back in the great room. Percy had every confidence that his girlfriend could handle and frustrations Leo might throw her way; after all, she did have to deal with Percy on a daily basis.

“Your ready for your match against my brother?”

Sadie’s question pulled Percy from his thoughts and he looked back at her. “More or less.” He admitted. “Carter said it himself yesterday, we’re both primarily melee fighters so I’m expecting it to be some kind of combat challenge.”

Sadie nodded a few times, humming. “You have a plan to beat him?”

The past week flashed through Percy’s mind, the training he and Annabeth had done and the extensive lengths she’d gone through to try and beat some kind of strategy into his thick head (not that much stuck, Percy was much more of an improvisational fighter). Overall he felt confident in his abilities, he had to be, having practically grown up fighting for his life in one way or another.

Still, he raised an eyebrow at the younger magician. “You’re not trying to spill my secret strategies to your brother, are you?”

“Gods no.” Sadie scoffed. “I want you to knock him on his ass in the most embarrassing way possible. Ra knows his ego could use it.”

 _Of course_ . Percy smiled, _why had he thought anything different?_ “Well in that case, what would you say to possibly giving me some insider tips on how to do just that?”

Sadie’s eyes lit with mirth, a coy grin curling at her lips. “I’d say what are we waiting for?”

* * *

Aside from a few bruises and some minor scrapes, Zia was fine. She rolled her eyes at my suggestion of drinking one of the premade potions, instead snatching a box of band-aids from the cabinet and plopping down in one of the straight-backed chairs.

When I went to help, she pulled the box back and ut of my reach, saying, “I think I can manage putting on a few bandaids, Carter.”

“Oh, come on.” I protested. “I don’t doubt you can, but let me be a good boyfriend, please? Just this once.” Zia rolled her eyes again but there was a fond flash in them that she couldn’t quite hide as she relented, passing me a few of the adhesive strips. I took them with a reverent bow of my head. “Thank you, oh benevolent one.”

I was expecting it this time, the light smack on the exposed back of my head followed by a high pitched, “Shut up!” And without looking I knew Zia’s cheeks had probably turned a light shade of pink.

While I helped patch her up, Annabeth did the same for Leo, using an alcohol wipe to clean the cut (it really _was_ just a scratch after all) before wrapping a strip of gauze around his head. All the while the mechanic blabbered on about the parts of the course he found noteworthy to Felix, who was listening with rapt attention, his head bobbling up and down as he occasionally interjected to explain what the thought process was.

“He was a worthy opponent.”

I looked up at Zia. “You both did well. I guess I haven’t said it yet, but congrats on the win.” She didn’t say anything, silently watching the demigods. After a time, she redirected her focus to me.

“Are you feeling ready for your fight against Percy?”

“You think it’s going to be a fight?”

“Yes.” Zia said truthfully. “It wouldn't make sense for it to be anything else.”

I shrugged. “But a fight? It seems kinda…” I searched for the word. “Straightforward, don’t you think?”

Zia didn’t have an answer to that.

“Alright, you’re good to go.” Annabeth declared a minute later.

Leo was already hopping off of the bed before the words had finished leaving her mouth. “Thank Hera, because I’m _starving_.” As if to accentuate his point, a low rumble issued forth from his stomach.

“But you just ate an hour ago.” I pointed out.

“Maybe, but physical activity makes me hungry.” Leo said, glancing at Felix and tipping his head towards the exit. “Wanna go make a sandwich and then see about that ice slide into the pool?”

“Yeah!”

We all ended up eating an early lunch, the kitchen counter having turned into a sandwich making assembly line. As we ate, I noticed that Sadie and Percy had sat together on the opposite side of the table from where I was, their heads angled towards each other as they talked in hushed tones. I frowned at the sight, having a good idea about what the two were talking about despite the fact that I couldn’t make out the words of their conversation. I couldn’t say I was exactly surprised by Sadie’s betrayal (okay, maybe calling it a ‘betrayal’ was a bit overdramatic, but she _was_ helping my opponent). We’d had a healthy rivalry since we were six and while I knew she wouldn’t ever do anything to actively harm me, she had never shied away from giving our fellow initiates advice on how to beat me in sparring matches.

Annabeth had noticed the budding partnership as well, the blond shaking her head sadly. “If you want,” she offered, directing the words to me as she sat down with a neatly constructed BLT, “I could give you some insight on Percy, since my boyfriend has no qualms of asking the same of your sister.”

“Thanks, but I’m good.” I said, taking a bite of my ham sandwich. “Sadie’s not exactly Sun Tzu when it comes to planning.”

“Neither is Percy.”

Walt came in later, around one o’clock, carrying a large cardboard box that he set down at the end of the table. Sadie looked up from her discussion with the demigod, shooting a curious glance at the box and asking the question that was on all of our minds.

“What’s that?”

“Gear for the next challenge.” Walt answered, opening the top folds and reaching inside.

“Gear?” Percy parroted, moving closer as Walt took out six leather strips, hanging three to me and three to the Son of Poseidon. Looking closer, I saw that the material was detailed with charms, each of a different material and shape. I ran my finger over the rough wood-carved diamond that had been fastened to one of the leather straps. Across the table from me, Percy was inspecting a stone circle with a series of lines scratched into its surface.

“You each get three,” Walt explained, “wear them wherever you’d like, arm, leg, waist, but they have to be visible. Your challenge will be to break all of your opponents charms before they break yours.”

So that was the twist. I smiled at the ingenuity of my second in command, leave it to Walt to find a way to make a simple sparring combat into something more challenging. Percy was excited as well, his eyes meeting mine with a keen glint to them.

“Sounds fun.” He said.

“The leather’s been enhanced so that it’s strong enough to mitigate most of the damage done by your swords without hindering movement. However, I will still impress upon you both that this is not a fight to the death.” Walt explained. “You’ll each have fifteen minutes to decide where you want to put the charms. Carter, you’ll be starting on the south end of the training hall, Percy on the north. After those fifteen minutes, round two will begin.” He looked between the two of to make sure we understood the rules. “Any questions?”

I had just one. “When do we start?”

Walt glanced down at his watch, then back up, saying “Now.”

* * *

That had to be the fastest fifteen minutes of Percy’s life. He was standing outside of the northern entrance to the training room fourteen minutes later, Riptide (in pen form) held lightly in his hand as he waited for the doors to open. The leather bands were snug around his upper right arm and lower left leg, but the one on his waist was looser, allowing it to change position under light pressure.

 _“A moving target_ . _” Annabeth explained during a break from their training. “Carter is a very straightforward person and it shows through his fighting style. Attacking primarily from the front, trying to break through the enemies defenses with brute force. He’s very rigid in his stance and style, so if you present yourself as a moving target you may be able to break his root.”_

_“I can be mobile.” Percy said, tipping back the water bottle and chugging about half of it._

_“Yes, but you’ll also have to deal with his magic.” The Daughter of Athena pointed out. “The best way is to get him to exhaust it beforehand, but if it’s a simple one-on-one it wont be so simple. He could conserve his energy and meet you with his own khopesh.”_

_“That weird curved sword thing?”_

_Annabeth nodded. “I’ve done some research on it, they’re made more for hacking and slashing than pure finesse. The blade is blunted at the tip, and it’s shape makes quick changes in direction difficult.”_

_Thinking back to their fight in the Ninth Nome, Percy remembered watching Carter’s giant blue chicken form as he fought the English magician. The Kane had traded blows with impressive speed but a less varied repertoire of moves. Although…_

_“The hook on the blade could be a problem.” Percy pointed out. “If he locks down Riptide, then I’d be vulnerable to his magic.”_

_“Not… not necessarily.” Annabeth said after a moment, a hand reaching up to rub at her chin. She had her thinking expression on and Percy couldn’t help but smile fondly at the look. He leaned over, draping his arms across her shoulders._

_“Oh really? Then tell me your wisdom, oh wise one.”_

_Annabeth tried to push him off of her with a laugh. “Get your sweaty arms off of me!”_

_“Not until you reveal your secrets, Wise Girl.”_

_“Seaweed Brain, I_ will _judo flip you if you don’t let go.”_

Percy smiled at the memory, still feeling the phantom twinge of pain from where his back had been forcefully reacquainted with the ground.

Overall, the demigod was used to one-on-one fights. Back in Camp Half-Blood, he enjoyed the thrill of crossing blades with an opponent, of searching for weaknesses in their style and losing himself in the ebb and flow of the fight. Annabeth always pointed out that it was one of his stronger qualities (among other things, she would add with a knowing smirk that always managed to make him blush) so Percy felt confident going into the challenge with the knowledge that the nature of it played to his strengths. The charms added a unique component of focus as well, changing it from a straight out brawl to a more narrative, objective-based fight. Adrenalin burned through his system in anticipation, the demigod wondering where Carter would have secured his charms.

He couldn’t wait to get started.

As if responding to his eagerness, the doors in front of him groaned as they swung open, admitting him to the room. He stepped inside, surprised to find that there had been no alterations to the space; no fancy obstacles or walls, just an open court. _So no water for me to use_ , Percy thought with a small frown. That would give Carter the advantage when it came to his magic. Of course, Percy _could_ try and pull water from the sprinklers he’d seen in the ceiling, not unlike what he’d done at the Met, but he also didn’t want to flood the Brooklyn House. He would hold off on that tactic unless he absolutely needed it. For now, it looked like it was going to be a true test of combative skill.

Carter was observing the room as well from the opposite side, his eyes roving over the floor and the walls, a pinch between his brow as he made the same observation as Percy about the space. Then he turned his attention to Percy, a hazel gaze carefully scanning him and searching for where he’d strapped on his charms.

The Son of Poseidon did the same, noting that Carter had one on his left wrist, the stone charm angled towards the inside, one on his right shoulder, and the last strap wrapped around his upper chest, but the charm itself was nowhere to be seen.

 _It’s probably on his back._ Percy realized with a frown, because that seemed almost too easy, too open of a target. He filed the observation away in the back of his mind as Walt leaned over the railing.

“Welcome to round two of the Brooklyn House Championship.” He announced in much the same manner as the first. “Challengers, get ready.”

Percy uncapped Riptide, feeling the Celestial Bronze blade materialize in his hand. Carter reached out a hand, pulling his _khopesh_ from the air. From above he heard Sadie shout, “Kick his butt, Beachboy!” The cheer making her brother shake his head with a sigh.

“Get set.”

Carter took up a stance, a defensive one from the way he angled his blade. _Interesting_ , Percy held Riptide loosely, legs slightly bent.

“Begin!”

* * *

Neither of us moved.

I frowned. That.. wasn’t what was supposed to happen. Percy was an impulsive fighter from what I’d seen, always willing to throw himself into the fray with reckless abandon. That’s why when he didn’t immediately rush at me straight out of the gate, didn’t try to close the fifteen feet that separated us, I knew that something was up. His sword wasn’t even raised, the tip pointing down and to the side, leaving his center open.

 _Okay…_ If he was giving me an opening I wasn’t about to let it go to waste, even if it was clearly some kind of bait.

I channeled my magic. “ _Sarab_.”

On either side of me I felt four mirror images shimmer into existence. Percy’s gaze narrowed, skipping from one clone to the next with intense scrutiny. His hand tightened around the hilt of his sword but still he kept it lowered. I took a deep breath, shifting into an attacking stance.

Then I moved.

As I rushed forwards, so did the four mirages I’d summoned. The two on my left crossed in front of me towards the right, and the two on the right splitting to either side of the demigod. I came at him from the far left, my _khopesh_ held at the low ready. I don’t know if it was a defect in my magical clones, instinct, or just pure luck that drove Percy to dodge towards me.

In one fluid motion, he leapt over the low blades, landing with a roll behind myself and another mirage and sweeping his blade across the back end of the move. The honed edge passed harmlessly through the clone, and I deflected the strike easily enough. Percy’s lips twitched up in a smirk at the clash of metal, eyes snapping to me and only me.

I dropped the magic, allowing the other mirages to fade. No sense in draining my energy for a ruse that I had figured would only work once. I went of the offensive, swinging at the demigod’s prone form but in one movement he rolled to the side and regained his footing. I pressed on doggedly, aiming for the easiest target, the charm in the center of his- _hang on, where’d it go?_

It had been in the front just a second ago but a quick scan showed it had somehow shifted to his left side.

Sensing my confusion for the opening it was, Percy surged forward. What followed was a series of unrelenting attacks, and I found myself giving ground, purely on the defensive. I knew Percy was fast- during our brief time training together before confronting Setne I’d learned that much and more about the demigod’s fighting style- but the speed of his attacks caught me off guard. It didn’t help that he was always trying to circle around me, forcing my to match his movement and allowing him to catch me out with abrupt attacks.

He flowed from one attack to the next with a seamless surety, and more than once he managed to get behind me, aiming for the charm I’d secured there. Thankfully I’d planned for that, and each time I brought up a magic barrier before the charm could break. As I parried another lunge, the tip of Percy’s blade made a small circle in the air before slashing in from the side towards the band on my wrist. I figured he was aiming to cut the leather, seeing as the charm itself was safely protected on the inside.

“ _Drowah!_ ”

Just before the blade could connect with the leather strap, a small shield of gold formed between them. Percy’s blade glanced off to the side but what I thought would give me a brief reprieve from the relentless attacks was a false hope, the demigod moving with his blade turning into my guard to sweep it across my shoulder.

The edge bit into the leather before I heard something shatter.

There was a snap of magic along with the breaking of the charm and Percy cursed. I turned to see that the demigod’s right arm was covered up to his elbow in ice, the fractals encasing his hand and the hilt of his sword.

I was tempted to try and figure out what had just happened but I was more enticed by the opening it gave me and I moved. I slashed at the charm on his arm but the demigod twisted away at the last moment, my blade instead landing a narrow cut on his left forearm. Percy jumped back from my next swing, the move made clunky and awkward because of the ice weighing down his right side and immobilizing his hand.

With some distance between us once more, I allowed my mind to replay what had just occurred. Percy breaking the stone charm, the surge of magic, the ice. _Gods how did I miss it?_ The answer was so obvious in hindsight. Breaking a charm releases the magic inside and changes the flow of the battle.

It was time to rethink my strategy.

Originally I had planned on letting Percy make the first move, primarily defending and using my magic to create openings. I knew now that there was no way I could beat Percy at his own game. My magic was the only advantage I had on the demigod so I would have to rely on it more than I’d originally thought. Then there was the problem of the charms themselves, and the fact I din’t know what breaking them would cause. They were magical wild cards, so taking my time to destroy one after another would only invite chances for Percy to use whatever magic was stored in them to gain the upper hand.

I would have to break them all at the same time.

* * *

Damn that ice was _cold_.

It rendered his right arm- his _sword_ arm- immobile and what was worse was that he couldn’t even let go of Riptide to transfer it to his other hand. He wasn’t exactly ambidextrous but it would at least give him a fighting chance instead of leaving him as a sitting duck.

One that Carter was not attacking.

The older Kane was hesitating, a furrow on his forehead as he watched Percy’s struggle. Honestly, Percy was lucky that Carter seemed frozen- and Percy snorted at the pun- in place despite the clear advantage that was being gifted to his opponent on a silver platter.

He saw the moment that changed. The frown faded and Carter’s eyes hardened with determination, the magician shifting his stance into something more aggressive. Percy cursed again as he took a preemptive step back, wracking his brain for a way to get rid of the ice. He briefly debated letting Carter smash it with his blade, but decided that would probably cause more harm than good. If only he had some water, he could-

Water.

Ice was just really cold water.

He’d only controlled the frozen version of his father’s element once before in the battle with Hathor, but if he wanted to win this he’d have to do it again. Concentrating, he reached for his power, feeling the stubbornness of the frozen liquid fighting his control.

The moment Carter moved was the moment the ice shattered. It broke away from his arm in a spectacular fashion, shards of ice clattering to the floor and flying up into the air. Percy raised his sword just in time to stop Carter’s side swipe, the impact jarring up his arm which was still _very_ cold. He tried to disengage, but Carter twisted his _khopesh_ locking their blades together. Before Percy could use the trick Annabeth had shown him, Carter was speaking.

“ _Stahp!_ ”

The pressure on his arm where the band had been vanished, the strap sliced cleanly through as the golden hieroglyph flared in front of him. Carter shoved down, unlocking his blade from Percy’s and reaching out a hand to snag the falling charm before quickly stepping away from the demigod. Riptide snapped right back up, but Carter had retaken a defensive stance, _khopesh_ in one hand, the charm band in the other.

He wasn’t breaking it.

Clarity rushed in as Percy moved his arm, slowly recirculating blood to the chilled appendage. Carter didn’t want to active whatever magic was in the metal charm, didn’t want to give himself a possible disadvantage. Percy smiled at the ingenuity. But the Kane’s plan was a double edge sword. If he waited to break all of the charms at once, he was giving Percy more time to figure out a way to counter it. And although Percy may not have the same battle-honed instinct for tactics that Annabeth did, that didn’t mean he was completely out of ideas.

It couldn’t have been a coincidence that one of Carter’s charms created ice, a water-based substance, in a barren arena. Sure, it hadn’t exactly been meant to _help_ him, but the fact remained that it wasn’t a complete hindrance. He had to believe that his charms would do the same: stall Carter or somehow give him an edge over the magician.

Reaching out an open hand, Percy twisted his palm to face the ceiling, feeling the shards of ice scattered around the room shudder at his unstable control of them. He flexed his hand, sending them all hurtling towards Carter. The magician predictably conjured a shield, the pinpricks of frozen water slamming into the golden barrier with little effect. Percy used the obscured vision to close the distance between them, raising Riptide.

The shield fell and Carter’s eyes widened, _khopesh_ raised to block an attempt at the charm on his arm, but Percy wasn’t aiming for it. He smashed the flat of his blade into the dangling metal charm the magician held in his off hand. It cracked with an echoing crunch, and Percy hoped he hadn’t just evened the score for nothing.

But nothing is exactly what happened.

Carter stared at the broken charm for a second before dropping it, frowning at Percy even as he raised his sword, eyes flickering from side to side as if he was also waiting for something to change. Then he smirked, raising a hand and Percy readied himself for whatever magic the magician was about to cast. The older Kane opened his mouth-

-and nothing came out.

His lips had moved but no sound escaped Carter’s lips. He blinked, a bewildered look twisting his face before he tried again with the exact same result.

It was Percy’s turn to grin. His gamble had paid off, Carter couldn’t use his magic anymore.

* * *

 _Well shit_.

That was the first thought that ran through my head. A silence charm. A _Duat-_ dammed _silence_ charm! I was going to throttle Walt when this was over. And it would be over soon if I couldn’t use my magic. Percy was a better swordsman than me by far (I wasn’t prideful enough to try to claim otherwise) and there was no way I would be able to keep up with him with just my _khopesh_.

I wasn’t given much time to think about it, because Percy was already taking advantage of my shock. He rushed in close, and I stumbled back with a sloppy parry that only resulted in the bronze blade slipping down to slice my forearm. The cut stung but I forced the pain from my mind and I found myself _again_ defending under the seemingly endless energy of the demigod.

There was only one trick left that I could think of.

I summoned my combat avatar, needing no verbal incantation to create the blue falcon-headed form. However, I only summoned enough to cover my left arm and hand, using it to grab onto Percy’s blade on his next swing. The demigod’s eyes bulged in the brief second before I tossed him across the room. He landed hard, rolling with the impact and I heard a snap as something broke.

But it wasn’t bone.

I felt another ripple of magic and this time there was a rumble from above. Glancing up, I saw stormclouds forming at the ceiling level. Weather magic. A flash of lightning snaked down from the clouds, striking the ground to my right and singing the wooden floor black. Then I felt a drop. Then another, and soon a light drizzle of rain had filled the inside of the training room.

Great. _Juuust_ great.

Percy was picking himself up and I realized if I didn’t end this _now_ I wouldn’t get another chance to. With a soundless yell I charged, summoning my full avatar. To my surprise, Percy didn’t try and duck or doge or slide out of the way, instead he raised his blade with staunch determination, meeting my bullrush head on. I swung, he blocked, grunting slightly under the empowered weight of my attack. I locked our blades as before, hoping that without the use of Riptide I was eliminating one of his means of offense. Another flash of lightning highlighted the hones edges of our swords and Percy’s seemed to glow golden. Then I saw the curve of the demigods lips and realized he wasn’t worried; he actually looked pleased.

Faster than I could blink, Percy reached up and tapped the top of his sword with the pen cap. Riptide retracted and my _khopesh_ slipped forward, no longer meeting any resistance. My six foot blade bit into the floor, Percy twisting into the gap between my avatar’s arms and propelling himself up with a burst of collected rainwater. He uncapped the pen as he rose, slicing the edge of the forming sword across the band on the inside of my wrist and severing the metal charm cleanly in half.

The water carried him around and I tried to turn but the avatar was too clunky and slow to keep up. I dropped it just as Percy tried to destroy the last charm on my back, falling the six feet to the rain-soaked floor and somehow managing to keep my feet. Percy landed in front of me, water churning at his side in a mesmerizing chaotic fashion. He thrust his hand forward, the water rushing towards me and I braced myself-

But it missed.

Percy frowned and tried again but once more the water flew wide.

 _The charm._ I reasoned. _The spell it contained… no. Walt wouldn’t have…_ But part of me knew he had, and, playing that hunch, I lowered my _khopesh_ , opening my arms to the side and inviting Percy to shoot again with a ‘come here’ twitch of my hand.

And the demigod did, he truly tried. But he, like I, had underestimated the truly evil nature of Walt Stone, second in command of the Brooklyn House. Every blast of water, every swing of the sword came close to hitting but missed, despite me doing nothing to retaliate. I wished I could laugh as I saw Percy’s frown only deepen, wished I could explain that Walt had essentially made a way for there to be a stalemate- a tie.

A magician who couldn’t cast magic, and a swordsman who couldn’t hit under the effect of the _Sa-per_ spell “miss”.

I held out my hand in an offering of a truce, seeing that Percy had pieced together some kind of rationalization of the same line of thinking.

“Well that sucks.” He pouted, “What if I’d broken that one first?”

Again frustrated at the inability to speak, I could only offer an exaggerated shrug of my shoulder.

“Eh, whatever. It was fun while it lasted.” Percy said, moving forward to take my hand.

The moment our skin made contact, the demigod’s eyebrow raised. Then he grinned, and the next thing I knew I was airborne. The weightless feeling only lasted half a second before my back was slamming down onto the training room floor with a soundless ‘oof’ rushing out of me. I was left staring up at the stormy sky above, feeling the broken charm digging uncomfortably into the small of my back.

Walt spoke a word, the stormclouds dispersing and the magic around myself and Percy fading. And even though I’d just lost in a spectacular manner, I couldn’t help but laugh as Walt declared, “The winner of round two is: Percy!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fin! Thanks for reading!
> 
> Just wanted to give a shoutout to Angellight for checking in on me on Saturday and holding me to my schedule. I know life sometimes gets in the way and I may not always (cough, usually, cough) make my self-imposed deadlines, so having someone to smack me on the back of my head every so often and be like 'Hey?! Where's the chapter???' does honestly help. 
> 
> I hope you all have a great week and I will see you next time.  
> <3


	5. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In between day one and day two of the challenge, Walt and Anubis get some time alone.
> 
> And nothing happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all!
> 
> So the next competition is giving me a harder time to write out than the last few, I will try and get it finished by next Friday but I may need a little more time to get it right so apologies in advacne.
> 
> In the interim, I wrote this half-chapter to fill the small gap between challenges sprinkled with hints of foreshadowing for the next book ( something we'll come back to that in the final chapter ;D).
> 
> Please enjoy!  
> <3

**Interlude: Where Nothing Happens**

**(Walt POV)**

The fight had been much closer than it had any right to be. I called the match after an impressive move from the demigod left Carter winded on his back. Sadie was cheering loudly from the balcony, though I doubted the two contestants were able to hear her comments. Behind my girlfriend, Annabeth was leaving on the railing, smiling down at Percy and watching as he helped Carter stand back up. The two exchanged manly pats on the back and I could see the wide grin on both of their faces. I felt a swell of pride at the sight, knowing that- even in defeat- the Leader of the Twenty-First Nome had taken it in stride, not holding the loss with malice or resentment towards our new allies.

Honestly, I’d thought they would actually end it in a draw, having broken both of the metal charms already. I could tell that Anubis disagreed, of course, his inner musings seeping through the bond we shared.

_Carter was right to play to his strengths: his magic. Skilled though he may be the godling had him outmatched in that regard._

_Yes,_ I returned, _but without the use of verbal incantations his options became limited to his combat avatar. He’s lucky he was able to break Percy’s silver charm- had it been the wooden one he’d have lost the fight._

There was a pause, a brief flash of confusion from my patron. _But he_ did _lose._ Anubis pointed out.

I resisted the temptation to roll my eyes as I amended the statement. _He would have lost_ sooner. The magic in the training room began dissipating; the storm clouds fading back into nothing and with a wave of my hand and a spoken word the _shabti’s_ around the hall sprung back into action, repairing the spots on the floor where the lightning had struck and mopping up the water and shards of ice. By the time we’d made our way to the lower floor Percy and Carter had moved to meet us, and while Percy was still smiling, Carter’s had shifted into a peeved glare directed towards me.

I matched it with a frown of my own. “What?” The only answer I got was a raise of an eyebrow, Carter’s finger jabbing up to point at his throat. There was a snicker from my right and I looked to see Sadie covering her mouth, the action doing nothing to hide the delighted upturn of her lips.

“Oh, this is perfect.” She said in a sing-song voice, flicking her wrist in her brother’s direction with a word of magic. I caught on a moment later as one of Felix’s hieroglyphs flared a brief silver above Carter’s head, a small cube of ice materializing and consequently falling perfectly into the back of his shirt.

The older Kane’s back straightened, mouth opening in a soundless gasp as his eyes bugged out for a second. He then redirected his glare at Sadie, and if looks could kill my girlfriend would’ve been reduced to ash on the spot. As it were, the only thing Carter was able to do was mouth an unflattering word, his face reddening slightly as he fumbled with his collared shirt, trying to get the ice cube out.

“It hasn’t worn off yet?” Carter shook his head and I hummed softly. The charms were meant to last the duration of the fight but wear off once it was over and all three of one set had been broken. _So what went wrong?_ Playing a hunch, I reached out my hand towards Percy, “Can I see the last charm?”

“Sure.” He leaned down, unstrapping the charm around his ankle and passing it over to me.

The curious look I received from Carter was easily translated into the unspoken question ‘what are you doing?’ Without answering, I scanned the carved piece, not noting any anomaly that would’ve caused it. The magic within was still dormant, stored in the stained wood half sphere.

“ _Ha-Di_.” Green magic lit the space above my hand and the charm, snapping it down the grain in a single, clean cut. The magic within now released, I felt it rush outwards towards its intended target. Carter let out a wordless squawk as he was flung back by the invisible force, thudding onto the floor a good five feet away from where he’d just been standing. Zia shouted his name in surprise, rushing over while Sadie doubled over with laughter. Percy snorted too but was quickly reprimanded with a smack on his shoulder from Annabeth.

So I hadn’t accidentally given them the wrong charms.

“Nice one, Walt!” Sadie held up her hand towards me, but I didn’t give her the high five she was looking for, too busy grappling with the issue of the lingering magic. She pouted slightly, swiveling around to the demigods and Felix. “C’mon, anyone? Surely I’m not the only one who found it funny. Ugh, you’re _all_ gonna leave me hanging?” Percy eventually obliged, stepping forward with a raised hand of his own and slapping it against the younger Kane’s.

But it missed.

Now wearing a frown of his own, Percy tried again to no avail. “Okay,” he said as Sadie lowered her hand, “that’s gonna be annoying. Please tell me this thing isn’t permanent.”

The last bit was directed at me, and I shook my head, bewildered. “It _shouldn’t_ be permanent.”

“That makes me feel so much better.”

 _The godlings sarcasm is unnecessary_. Anubis noted with a hint of his own exasperation.

 _But not unwarranted._ I responded internally, mentally wracking my brain for the cause of the lingering charms.

 _Perhaps you underestimated the potency of the metal?_ Anubis offered.

“Maybe…” I mused aloud this time, glancing back over at where the _shabti’s_ were still on cleanup duty. If I got one of the broken charms, maybe I could find out where I’d gone wrong. After all, this was the first time I’d crafted spells into the talismans with a specific target in mind. “It shouldn’t last longer than a few hours.” I reassured them.

“Awww, that’s all?” Sadie looked disappointed by the news. “Can’t you just make it last a _bit_ longer? At least tell me what spell you used so I know how to get Carter to shut up- ow!”

Carter glared again, he and Zia having returned to the rest of the group, a hand raised in silent threat to smack his sister upside the head again. Sadie did the mature thing and stuck out her tongue. Completely oblivious to the problem, Felix was animatedly gushing to Percy about the fight, complete with hand gestures and sound effects. “- but then, at the end, when you went _fwoosh_ and flipped Carter! That was the coolest part! Where did you learn to do that?”

“I, ah,” Percy chuckled lightly, rubbing the back of his head. “Learned that from when A… a great warrior taught me.”

“Oh, I’m a great warrior now, am I?” Annabeth asked her arms folded over her chest. “I don’t remember showing you that move unless I was using it _on_ you, Seaweed Brain.”

Felix’s eyes waffled between the demigods, growing wide. “Wait- _you_ taught him how to do that?”

Annabeth shrugged a shoulder. “Taught is putting it generously, but yes, he stole that move from me.”

“Whoa…” The ice mage’s eyes were the size of small dinner plates. “That’s _awesome_!”

The genuine awe in the kids words brought a blush to the blonde’s cheeks. “Well,” She coughed into her hand to hide the smile in her tone. “Maybe I could show you how to do it- _properly_ , that is, not whatever maneuver Percy was _trying_ to do- later tonight.”

“Hey!” Percy protested. “I won, didn’t I?”

“Yeah!” The excitement dimmed slightly as Felix frowned up at Leo. “But wait- I thought we were gonna make a huge ice slide?”

“We can do that too.” Leo reassured with his own impish wink at the youngster. “Or we could do it tomorrow after Sadie and Annabeth have their challenge.”

I cleared my throat, drawing all eyes to me. “Yes, and speaking of, I’ll have to start setting it up soon if it’s to be done by morning.”

Annabeth’s grey eyes flashed with intrigue while Sadie flapped her hand in my direction. “Yeah. yeah, we’ll get out of your hair. C’mon brother-o-mine, I gotta enjoy the blessed silence while it lasts.”

I turned back to the room as they made their way out, walking over to where the fractured remains of Percy’s metal charm lie discarded, the leather strap sliced by Carter’s magic. The metal was cool to the touch, a silver-based alloy with traces of copper and zinc weaved in. What was once the hieroglyph for ‘silence’ was now unrecognizable thanks to the cracks caused by Percy’s sword. Among the remains of the charm were flakes of gold, part of the targeting symbols I’d fabricated for the challenge.

“Maybe I should’ve used stone.” I knew I was speaking mostly to myself, I often did it when working just to fill the silence my room provided. Sometimes Sadie would be there for be to bounce ideas off of or to provide the occasional spark of unintentional inspiration, but for the most part I worked alone.

_Stone is more suited for stable magic._

Well, _mostly_ alone. I was still magically bound to the god inside my head. I stood from where I’d crouched down, passing the charm from one hand to the other as I headed towards my room. “But stone fragments might have stabilized the magic.” I reasoned. “It’s only the metal charms that are having a lasting affect, both the stone and wooden ones wore off as intended. Or- or what if it was the fact that gold and silver are both metals? The gold merging with non-metallic elements wasn’t as potent so maybe...”

I trailed off, getting lost in my own thoughts as I opened the door to my room, flicking on the workstation light and depositing the charm on the velvet surface. The clock on the wall declared it was a little past two fifteen and I sighed, rubbing a hand down my face. There was still plenty of time to set up the third challenge, I could allow myself an hour to try and figure this out. Charm making was a delicate art, and while I prided myself on my ability to create basic charms, I was not vain enough to admit that the more complex ones came as simply to me.

 _Perhaps it was not the material of the charms but the manner of the magic they held?_ Anubis had been fairly quiet until then, only speaking up as I sat down to examine the piece.

I frowned. “How do you mean?”

 _I mean,_ There was a frustrated pulse from the god as he tried to rephrase. _The magic itself might be the problem. The nature of magic is wild, it comes from the Duat, a chaotic place, and magicians use spells to manipulate it. To create order from the chaos they use conduits to channel it- wands, staves, charms_ . He explained. _However, the nature remains unchanged._

“Alright, thanks for the Magic 101 lesson,” I said, “but how does that have anything to do with this?”

Anubis was holding back a second wave of frustration, and I could feel the god take a metaphorical breath. _It means that specifying it towards a single target, trying to control it to that extent, may not be possible._

I leaned back, glancing at the rows of charms hanging on the jewelers display shelves next to my desk. “How would that work for summoning spells though? And for healing spells specified for a single person, like the one Sadie used to save Carter from the _Tjesu’s_ poison? Those are for specified targets.”

Anubis acknowledged my point with an incorporeal nod. _Those are made of wax were they not? The medium and the magic must be-_

“Opposite!” It made sense now. “Target-specific magic channeled through conductive materials can backfire but if it’s done with more stable and less potent magic it works like a-” I stopped.

 _Were you about to say ‘like a charm’?_ The god sounded amused.

“No.” I denied fruitlessly, knowing the god could sense my thoughts. Anubis laughed in the back of my mind. Ignoring him, I looked back down at the charm, reaching out with my magic to sense the signature inlaid in the metal. The traces were fading but still present, a reassuring sign that the spells would indeed wear off with enough time. “What do you think,” I asked my counterpart, “forty-five minutes? An hour?”

 _As a best case scenario,_ the God of Death confirmed. _At max I would say it could linger for up to five hours_.

“Sadie would love that.” I scoffed quietly.

 _Yes…_ Anubis hummed, _best not to tell her and get her hopes up in that case._

“Glad we’re in agreement on that account.” I stood, pocketing the broken charm and making my way towards the chest at the foot of my bed. The worn wooden lid creaked open, loud in the perpetual quiet of my room, and I reached inside grabbing a few items I would need to begin setting up the last challenge. It was probably the most complex challenge out of the three, a combination of Felix’s ingenuity and my practicality, topped with a bit of magical flair to make things extra interesting.

 _The godling will enjoy it._ Anubis commented, agreeing with my unspoken words. _Sadie, on the other hand… she might be tempted to return the favor at some point in the future. I would advise caution._

“She’ll have fun.” I countered, standing and shutting the lid. “She might curse a lot while it’s happening, and once it’s over, but she’ll have fun.” Anubis disagreed but didn’t voice it this time, staying silent in my mind as I headed out.

I had just touched the door handle when I felt it. My breath caught as a small surge of magic rolled over my bond with Anubis and I could feel the god recoil from whatever was causing it. The abrupt distance in our connection sent a wave of vertigo through me, a slight pressure building behind my eyes. I closed them, reaching up to pinch the bridge of my nose when the sudden swell of magic receded as quickly as it had appeared. Anubis returned as well, but it was slow, hesitant, unsure.

“What was that?” I gasped out, still trying to will away the minor headache. Anubis said nothing. “What _was_ that.” I repeated, and something in my tone must’ve snapped the god from his silence.

 _I… I do not know._ He sounded confused. _It felt like…._

“Like _what_?”

There was another pause. Then, _It… it is nothing._

I was getting annoyed now. “Oh no, it was definitely _something_ -” I snapped.

 _You misunderstand_ . He interrupted, and I felt him apologizing for not being clear with his words. _I mean there was_ nothing _. Something-_ someone _, has gone missing._

“Who?” My heart rate spiked with panic and I tore out of the room, thoughts immediately jumping to the people in the Brooklyn House and I sent a silent prayer to the gods (the ones _not_ in my head) that it wasn't any of them.

 _Everyone’s fine._ Anubis reassured me, and my steps slowed. _The origin of the magic was not from nearby._

I slowed, frowning even as my brain struggled to think past the immediate fear. “Then-”

 _I’m not sure._ Anubis answered before I could fully form the question in my mind. _It could be nothing, as I said, magic is chaotic and sometimes it can act on its own._ But it could be something. I didn’t have to say it aloud or think it, I knew the god was on the same page as I was about this. I felt his doubt as he surely felt mine, and after another moment of me standing in the middle of the hallway, he said, _Continue with the challenges as normal, no need to alarm the others if this is indeed a false alarm._

“But-” Anubis had only paused briefly, however. _I shall look into the anomaly in the meantime_ . He continued. _And inform you of any findings I may uncover._ “...Okay.” At my hesitation, he sent a well of reassurance through our connection, and I felt myself relax under the confidence of the god.

 _All will be well_. And with those words I felt him retreat to a recess of my mind, the change more gradual this time and less abrupt, less jolting. I was as alone with my thoughts as I would ever be, and with the absence of the gods prominent presence so too went the surety he’d given me.

“I hope you’re right.” I muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fin! Thanks for reading!
> 
> See? The summary was right! Nothing happens.
> 
> :)
> 
> Everything is fine.


	6. Round 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabeth v. Sadie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all!
> 
> Yup, a day late. Seems like that's the norm for me, but I know if I don't give myself deadlines I won't start so I thank you all for putting up with my delays.
> 
> This time I tried something a bit new- not sure if it worked but fingers crossed- and added a picture with the chapter. It's something I sketched up when thinking of the 3rd challenge so it's nothing fancy, just a visual I used for inspiration, but I decided that since I made you wait I would try and include it as a bonus :)
> 
> I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  
> <3

**(Alternating Sadie/Annabeth POV)**

Walt wasn’t at dinner that night. I saved him a plate of spaghetti anyway, humming softly to myself as I sat on the porch with Annabeth. Zia and I had cast some warming charms to stave off the chill, but the night was still brisk, and I pulled my sweater tighter around myself.

The two of us were watching on as Percy climbed to the top of the newly formed ice slide in his seahorse bathing suit. “Geronimo!” The demigod shouted, throwing himself down the icy slope and whooping as he went airborne for a solid three seconds before crashing into the pool with an impressive splash. Felix cheered from where he was treading water in the shallows, his smile a mile wide and showing no signs of disappearing anytime soon.

Percy resurfaced, running a hand through his wet locks and executing three perfect sidestrokes towards the stairs where Leo was sitting, his legs dangling in the water. The mechanic looked unimpressed, shaking his head at the older boy. “That’s the best you can do Aquaman? I was expecting more.”

“Well I don’t want to get the girls wet.” Percy protested, glancing our way and smiling.

“Which is much appreciated.” Annabeth concurred, and at the agreement her boyfriend blew her a kiss from across the water. She chuckled as the boys went back to their own conversation, shaking her head and sending her blond waves swaying in the evening air. Unlike my own, Annabeth had thick hair that fell a little past her shoulders, and I had to admit it was strange to see it in anything other than a ponytail.

She caught me staring and I quickly looked away. It’s not like I was _jealous_ or anything, but my hand still reached up to tuck a strand of my thin, purple tinged locks behind my ear. “I don’t know how they can stand it,” I said. “The pool might be heated but they’ve gotta be freezing when they get out. Even _with_ the warming charms I’m still cold.”

Annabeth just hummed thoughtfully, watching the boys with a fond smile.

“So,” I said, clearing my throat. “Any guess as to what Walt’s got in store for us tomorrow?”

Annabeth didn’t answer immediately, her fingers drumming against the side of her leg. “My guess,” she said after a minute, “is something skill based, like the one for Leo and Zia, only without all the ice.”

“Huh. How do you figure that?”

“Well, if I can be honest here, we’re not exactly fighters.” Annabeth gave a small shrug. “Carter and Percy are more suited to combat, but you and I? We’re more...”

“Brains, not brawn.” I said.

“Right. Utility and strategy as opposed to whack and bash.”

“Hey, don’t discount Sadie’s ability to whack and bash.” A deeper voice commented from behind us. “She’s quite good at that too.”

“Walt!” I flashed him a smile. “You’re lucky you got here in time, I was just about to give your food to Phillip.”

Walt gave me a tired smile, leaning down to plant a kiss on the top of my head. “No you weren’t.” He said, sitting down next to me with a relieved sigh, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

“You okay?” I asked, trying to mask my concern. There was a slump to his shoulders and the way he sank into the cushioned chair like it was the worlds most comfortable mattress spoke to how exhausted he probably was. Walt was usually the one convincing _me_ to get adequate amounts of sleep, but this time it looked like _he_ was the one who pulled an all nighter.

“Fine.” Even his voice sounded tired, the words slow and deliberate. “Just… used a lot of magic today. I feel like I could sleep for a week.”

Annabeth offered him an apologetic glance. “You look it. I didn’t realize this competition was taking that much out of you.”

I pushed the extra plate of food in front of him and Walt thanked me before addressing the demigod. “Setting up _your_ challenge has been the toughest part.” He admitted. “Most of it’s ready for tomorrow, I only have to make some minor additions in the morning.”

“Is it now?” I wondered aloud as he dug into the food. “Any… tips and tricks you wanna share?” Walt shook his head in the negative and I pouted slightly, resting my head on my hand. “Oh c’mon, I’m your girlfriend, doesn’t that mean you’re obligated to give me a little heads up?”

“That just means I’m _definitely_ not telling you anything.” He said, eyes full of mirth. “The only advice I can give you is to not underestimate your opponent.”

“Well I knew _that_.”

Annabeth laughed.

Walt looked around as he ate, frowning slightly as his gaze roved over the three boys in the pool. Percy and Felix were trying to pull Leo into the water, to which the fully clothed (minus shoes and socks) mechanic was vehemently protesting, grabbing on to the stair railing with enough force that his knuckles were turning white. “Where’s Carter and Zia?” He asked.

“Ugh,” I slumped back down in my own chair. “Those two love birds left earlier to ‘have some alone time’ the moment Carter got his voice back.”

“So the spell wore off?”

Walt sounded relieved, not that I could fathom why- a silent Carter was an _improvement_ in my books. “Unfortunately, yeah. Please tell me you kept a record of whatever spell that was? I will pay you good money to teach me it.”

“I prefer to not be barbecued alive by Zia, thanks.”

“Percy’s wore off too.” Annabeth commented, shifting in her seat to face Walt fully. “Those charms, how do they work, exactly?” She asked. “I’ve been wondering about it all night. I get that you somehow store magic in them, but why the different materials?”

Oh boy, here we go. I tuned out the nerd-sposition that was about to follow, fishing out a meatball from the pot of spaghetti sauce and whistling twice before tossing it towards Phillip of Macedonia. The albino crocodile was lounging on the edge of the pool, and at my call he turned, maw opening and snapping back shut once he’d caught the snack.

“So the materials change the potency of magic?” Annabeth clarified. “Maybe that’s why those last spells- the ones on the metal charms- lingered longer than the others.”

“Yeah… maybe.”

 _Something’s not right._ Something in Walt’s words made me frown, glancing over to him. It took me a second to pinpoint what had sparked the thought, but then I realized; he sounded unsure. If there was one thing Walt had an unwavering confidence in it was his _sau_ making ability. He might not have been an expert in the craft, but he never created any charm without having done extensive research or testing practice charms beforehand. As if confirming my suspicions, one of his hands had wandered up to finger his charm necklaces, an unconscious action he only did when he was nervous.

“Guyyyys _stoppp!_ ”

Annabeth looked up at Leo’s cry, rolling her eyes and standing. “I’d better go take care of that.”

I waited for a moment, watching her walk over and start reprimanding her boyfriend, then I spun back around, leaning over the table. “What’s wrong?”

Walt looked confused. “Wrong?”

“Yes, wrong.” I repeated, “Something’s going on and you’re not telling me.”

“Sadie, I already said I’m not giving you any hints-”

“I’m not talking about the bloody challenge.” I hissed, cutting him off. “There’s something else. Don’t deny it, I can tell.” His eyes slid away from mine, lips pressed together in a familiar way. I leaned back, eyes narrowing. “Is it something with Anubis?”

“No.” Walt denied quickly, reaching over and taking up my hand in his. “No, nothing like that. It’s… its nothing, Sadie. Earlier I thought I felt something, but I was probably just tired.”

I squeezed his hand, looking him in the eyes and seeing a sliver of doubt in the inky depths. “Okay.” I said, taking a breath. “Okay. You’d tell me if it _was_ something though, right?” Walt looked at me then, his eyes softening and lips turning upward in a sincere smile.

“You’d be the first to know.” He confirmed. 

* * *

The next morning, Annabeth made sure to have a light breakfast; two pieces of toast with strawberry jam, a granola bar, and a tall glass of orange juice. It was her go to before every game of capture the flag back in Camp Half-Blood, something to get her mind awake and running without running the risk of cramping up.

A glance over at Sadie’s plate revealed a full english breakfast of bacon, eggs, home fries and cheese. The girl was digging in with a youthful vigor the likes of which Annabeth had only seen whenever Percy got his hands on a chicken and pepperoni pizza from Uncle Paul’s pizzeria. Carter was watching his sister from across the table with equal fascination, the simple bowl of cereal in front of him forgotten as Sadie managed to shovel half of an egg into her mouth in one bite.

“My sister, the human garbage disposal.” He deadpanned, earning himself s glare from Sadie and a hand gesture that had Leo reaching over to cover Felix’s eyes. Carter just rolled his eyes. “You’re gonna choke and I’m gonna laugh.”

Sadie swallowed hard, pounding her chest with her fist twice before saying, “Not my fault you have the appetite of a squirrel.”

“And you eat like a hippo.”

“Y’know, I liked it better when you couldn’t talk.” Sadie snarked back, taking another bite.

“Alright, enough.” Zia said, sending a warning look at Carter when he opened his mouth to snipe back with another biting comment. “Save some of that fire for the competition.” Black eyes darter over to meet Annabeth’s grey ones and a coy smile pulled at the edge of Zia’s lips. “I have a feeling you’re gonna need it.”

“That and a whole lotta luck.” Percy agreed, reclining in his chair, one arm slung over Annabeth’s shoulder. She turned her head to his, an eyebrow raised curiously and he met her gaze, his sea-green depths silently conveying a sense of pride and confidence. Annabeth smiled, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

Sadie huffed, “Luck? Who needs luck when you have a brilliant brain like mine.”

Zia reached over to smack Carter’s arm before the older Kane could speak. “What?” He protested. “I haven’t even said anything yet!”

“Maybe not, but you were thinking it.”

“Oh come on.” He held his hands out openly towards Sadie. “She practically _gift wrapped_ that one for me!”

Walt came in a few minutes later, and not long after that it was time for the last round to begin. Having seen the first two challenges from above, Annabeth found herself appreciating the ground view as they entered the training hall. From below, the room seemed so much larger, almost as wide as the Big House and a good ten feet taller, culminating in a domed roof above the second floor balcony. Situated in the center of the room was a large square platform made of wood, approximately thirty feet wide and ten feet tall if Annabeth had to guess, her eyes roving over the simple structure. There were indents in the side of the platform, closely resembling the handholds one would find on a rock climbing wall. At its center was a flagpole, the bright red fabric hanging lazily in the breezeless chamber.

A soft hum on her left told the demigod that Sadie was also observing their battleground, and based on the pinch in her brow, Annabeth would bet good money that the younger girl was also trying to guess as to what twist Walt had thrown into this challenge. After all, it was pretty obvious what the end goal of their game was.

“Welcome to the third round of the Brooklyn House Championship!” Walt’s voice announced, echoing off of the stone walls. “In this challenge, the one to reach the flag first shall be declared the victor.”

“No way it’s that simple.” Sadie muttered.

Annabeth silently agreed, watching as Walt raised his hand, speaking a word of magic so that a bright green hieroglyph illuminated in front of him. There was a grinding sound and the platform began to glow with a brown haze, the floor shook slightly and Annabeth’s mouth slowly fell open as she watched the platform begin to rise. Up and up it went, finally stopping when it was a good five feet off the ground. Then the platform split. An inner square rose from within the original platform, hollow on the inside like a square ring. When it was a fair distance above the first, a third and then a fourth layer unfolded from the original platform, until before them was a hovering pyramid stretching nearly forty feet into the air.

At the center of the top block was the flag.

With another word from Walt, the platforms then started _moving_ , the bottom two gently rising and falling at different paces while the top ones began rotating in opposing directions. The second block from the top flared briefly and a golden dome stretched up from the edges, closing above the top of the flag. Annabeth recognized the spell as the barrier one she and Sadie had used back at the Eternal Flame Falls a few months ago.

“Well that’s…. interesting.” Sadie concluded, her eyes wide as she looked upon the modified room. She almost looked… amused. Despite her ditzy personality, Annabeth was never one to underestimate her opponent; contrary to what her brother said, Sadie was surprisingly intelligent in her own right. The younger Kane may not have the book knowledge that Carter did, but her ability to think on her feet and improvise was nothing short of spectacular. Of course, Annabeth wasn’t all that concerned about the challenge either. She had plenty of experience with climbing games, holding one of the fastest times to the top of the rock wall in Camp Half-Blood, and was well prepared to counter Sadie’s magical advantage thanks to the week of preparation they’d had.

Annabeth’s mind was already running through a series of options on how to get to the top first. The function of the handholds were obvious now, as they’d have to have some way to climb to the next platform; and the way the bottom layers were moving in relation to each other was another factor that could play in her favor if she managed to time it right.

She was still pondering over how to get past the third level barrier when Walt spoke again. “The use of magic and other means are, of course, permitted. As are attempts to slow down your opponent. Falling off the platform will not disqualify you although I highly suggest avoiding doing so for medical purposes.” He paused, looking them both in the eye as he raised his hand above his head. “On your marks.”

Sadie pulled out her wand.

“Get set.”

Annabeth sheathed her dagger.

The arm fell. “Begin!”

[(https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qol9rH1sET1hXJ2nwGZQgAAj-PFQTyIC/view?usp=sharing](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qol9rH1sET1hXJ2nwGZQgAAj-PFQTyIC/view?usp=sharing))

* * *

This game would be over before it even began. That was my first thought when the platform started floating. I glanced over at Annabeth, seeing the demigod inspecting the pyramid with intense focus, her eyes jumping from one platform to the next as she hashed out whatever intricate strategy that big brain of hers was formulating.

My plan was quite simple:

Step 1) Turn into a Kite (yes, the bird kind).

Step 2) Fly up to the top.

Step 3) Grab the flag and win.

Easy. It was almost insulting how little effort I would actually need to put into the challenge, and a part of me felt cheated. Surely Walt would’ve taken into account my shapeshifting powers, and yet the only deterrent was a barrier spell. Granted, I hadn’t yet figured out how to get past said barrier, but a simple, maximum strength _Ha-Di_ spell would probably do the trick. And if that failed then a quick summoning charm and ta-daa! Flag in hand and victory secured.

Walt began the countdown and I glanced over at Annabeth, seeing the demigod sheath her dagger. With a shrug I pulled out my wand, and the moment the game began, I cast the summoning charm.

“ _Tati’li!_ ” The hieroglyph blazed a bright silver in front of me, but instead of the flag zooming into my open hand, there was a flash of emerald from the top platform. Sigils that I hadn’t seen from our lower vantage flared to life and my spell shattered, the magic dispersing and the flag barey twitching in response.

Alright, so winning wouldn’t be _that_ easy. A quick glance at Walt showed that he was smiling down at me, and I rolled my eyes, muttering, “Worth a shot.” Time for plan B.

Annabeth hadn’t waited to see if my spell had worked, the demigod already having jumped up to grab one of the handholds on the lowest platform, shimmying her way up the side with such ease that I momentarily wondered if she was part monkey. Taking a breath, I channeled my magic through my body, feeling myself shrink as I transformed. Transformation magic was not my favorite method, probably because I’d once gotten stuck in my kite form for longer than intended (and just as an FYI, no I did _not_ eat any bugs while I was a bird, Carter was lying when he said that). Ever since then I’d tried to avoid shapeshifting; of course we practiced doing it every now and again just to make sure that we had better control over the process, but again, not my cup of tea.

With one flap of my newly formed wings I was sent airborne, rising above the ground and making my way towards the top of the pyramid. The one redeeming quality of turning into a kite was the feeling of flying: having the ability to leave the ground at will filled me with a sense of freedom that made it hard not to whoop (or squawk) with glee.

“ _Hu-Ai!_ ”

I had almost reached the second tier of the pyramid when the blue hieroglyph flashed in front of me and the wind under my wings was suddenly gone. My feathered body slammed into an invisible wall and I plummeted in an uncontrolled spiral, catching a brief glimpse of Annabeth with her hand outstretched in my direction as the floor became the ceiling and the ceiling became the floor. I frantically tried to angle myself towards the lower platform, flaring my wings at the last second in a last ditch effort to slow down before slamming onto the wooden stage. Releasing the magic, I felt my hands and feet reforming, chest heaving as I pushed myself up and glared at the demigod.

“That’s cheating!” I protested.

Annabeth only shrugged, grinning as she pulled something from her back pocket. “Hey, you heard the man, _all_ magic is allowed. Not just yours.” And with those words she placed the baseball cap atop her head, vanishing into thin air.

That meant any attempts to just fly up were out of the question. Annabeth was using the magic _I’d_ shown her during our stint to defeat Setne to gain an upper hand. I growled in annoyance. Fine, if that’s the way she saw it then two could play at that game.

Concentrating, I lowered my gaze into the Duat, seeing the flurry of azure Greek symbols surrounding the invisible demigod. I aimed my wand at the spot where she was headed, a spot where the second platform was slowly moving down to meet the first, and shouted, “ _Ke-ra-noh!_ ”

With my sight still in the magical veil, I watched as Annabeth’s head snapped around before the girl threw herself to the side a split second before the crack of lightning slammed into the platform where she’d just been. The force of the blast washed over us and I stumbled back a step. Annabeth’s tumble away turned into a full on roll towards the edge, the hat getting knocked off of her head in the process. With reflexes that would put any magician to shame, the demigod whipped out her dagger and stabbed it into the platform, stopping herself before she rolled off the edge of the platform.

I didn’t wait to watch her stand, already sprinting towards the second tier that was now flush with the first. As it started to rise again I peered back over the side, waving with a smile as the distance between us grew.

* * *

Annabeth yanked her blade from the wood, flicking her head to clear the flyaways that had slipped out of her ponytail during the blast. She looked up to see the magician smiling down at her, waving coyly as the second platform began to rise again. Held lightly in her other hand was the ivory wand and Annabeth smiled internally as she ran through the short list of Egyptian magic spells she’d constructed after the end of their escapade with the Kanes.

_“You’re interested… in magic?” Lou Ellen gave her a skeptical look, the journal in front of her filled with hand written notes and symbols, none of which Annabeth could make heads or tails of: a fact that was more than frustrating for the Daughter of Athena._

_“Yes.”_

_“Why?”_

_Annabeth hesitated. She couldn’t well say that her sudden intrigue was due to the fact that she had met and witnessed people who could wield ancient Egyptian writing to create and destroy things, so instead she went with a simpler response. “Because it’s the one thing I don’t fully understand about the Mist.”_

_“The Mist?” The Daughter of Hecate scoffed. “The Mist isn’t_ magic _, well, it_ is _, but it’s more like the residual leftovers of what demigods produce.”_

_Two sentences in and Annabeth was already lost. “I- what?”_

_Lou Ellen sighed, closing her book and leaning back against the tree she was sitting under. Her amber eyes drifted to stare across the lake, and for a moment Annabeth wasn’t sure if she would get an answer. Then the Head Counselor of Cabin Twenty stood, dusting off her black skirt. “Come with me.” She said, leading Annabeth over to the waters edge where a small smattering of minnows were hovering just under the surface._

_“Energy resides in all living beings.” Lou Ellen explained, “and magic is just the manipulation of that energy. Certain words and symbols can make that energy more accessible, and every time someone changes what was originally there it leaves behind an… afterglow, for lack of a better term.” She held her hand out over the water, closing her eyes and muttering in Greek under her breath._

_One of the minnows suddenly glowed with a bronze light, and the small fish grew larger until it was the size of her hand. Lowering her arm, Lou Ellen opened her eyes again, the irises rimmed in the same hue that slowly faded over the next few seconds. “You saw that?” When Annabeth nodded, Lou Ellen continued, “Good, now look at the tree over there.”_

_She pointed to one of the mossy oaks surrounding the lake, and Annabeth frowned at the normalcy of it. “What am I supposed to be seeing?”_

_“Nothing.” Lou Ellen answered, “now look back at the fish.”_

_Doing as she was told, Annabeth glanced back down only to find that the minnows were all the same size again. “Wait, when did you-”_

_“I didn’t.” The Daughter of Hecate crouched down, stirring the water with a finger. “The Mist sensed the alteration in energy and compensated to show you what should have been there. Look closer. Nothing’s changed.” And when she concentrated, Annabeth found that her fellow demigod was right, she blinked as she saw that the larger minnow was back, the fish having swam a bit further out from where it was originally._

_“We can see the changes more easily than mortals because of how often we interact with it.” Lou Ellen explained, rising from her crouch and making her way back to the tree. “Everyone can access their energy, and it may take on different forms- your boyfriend can control water, for example- but that’s all magic is.”_

That conversation combined with the information she’d gained from her many talks with Carter about balancing magic and the nuances of Egyptian spells allowed her to experiment on her own, refining the newfound skill on her own time. She was by no means as proficient with it as the Kanes were and it didn’t come as naturally, but she _was_ getting better

So when she saw the opportunity, Annabeth focused her energy, reaching out towards the wand Sadie was holding. “ _Ptósi!_ ” Sadie yelped as if she’d been shocked, her hand spasming open to allow the wand to fall down to the lower level. Annabeth was already running, snagging the wand out of the air and feeling the icy cold burn in her palm as she pushed off of the edge of the platform and jumped.

The second level was still rising and with a yell, Annabeth brought both of her hands forward, now holding a dagger in each; the wand having changed shape mid-leap just as it had back on the Argo III. The blades bit deep into the wood, leaving Annabeth dangling off the side of the ascending platform. The elation she felt at the fact that it had actually _worked_ quickly faded when she noticed Sadie drawing a breath to cast more magic. Swinging her legs, Annabeth used the momentum to launch herself sideways, hands snagging on one of the handholds just as Sadie’s cry of “ _Suh-far!_ ” caused one of the daggers to slip out of the wood and tumble to the ground twenty feet below.

Annabeth had pulled herself up onto the platform before Sadie could cast another spell and the demigod threw herself at the magician, tackling the younger girl to the ground. Sadie yelped, throwing out a random punch that just barely scraped the side of Annabeth’s cheek.

“Get _off of me!_ ” She cried, flailing under the weight of the larger girl. Her knee connected solidly with Annabeth’s stomach and the demigod let out an _oof_ as the air was driven from her lungs. Emboldened by the hit, Sadie reached out a hand and started to chant but Annabeth was ready for it. She lunged forward with her own arm, hand clamping around Sadie’s mouth and stopping whatever word was about to be voiced; from the last round, she knew that if they couldn’t speak, they couldn’t cast magic.

“Mmphhh!” The younger Kane’s shout of anger was muffled by Annabeth’s hand, but then the demigod felt something clamp down on the flesh of her palm. Hard.

Letting out a curse, Annabeth pulled away, shaking out her hand which was now bleeding slightly where a set of identifiable grooves were now marked in her skin. “You _bit_ me?” Annabeth wasn’t sure if she should be impressed or grossed out by the childish tactic.

“I told you to get off me.” Sadie snarked, her grin wolflike as she flung out her hand. Annabeth matched the movement, and they both cried out at the same time:

“ _Ha-Wi!_ ”

“ _Apergía!_ ”

* * *

There was an explosion of silver and blue between us as we were both sent flying in opposite directions. My back protested as it was slammed against the hard wood of the platform, and I tumbled for a moment until the floor suddenly wasn’t under me anymore. My hand shot out, blindly grabbing for the edge as my stomach lurched with the sudden weightlessness. The rough wood scraped against my fingers before they too slipped over the side, and a wordless shout was torn from my lips as I began to fall.

I barely gasped out a hasty “ _N’dah_ ,” the protective barrier forming around me just before I crashed into the first tier of the pyramid. It cushioned the impact enough for me to get back up with only a grunt of pain directed towards the forming bruises on my back.

My heart sank as I looked back up at the top of the pyramid. Annabeth had somehow managed to not fall over the side, the demigod currently climbing up the inside of the third tier of the pyramid. She’d retrieved her dagger at some point too, I could see the telltale glint of metal tucked into her belt.

The game was over. She’d won. There was no way I would be able to get back to the top before she reached the flag. And yet, I had never understood the concept of giving up without a fight. With one last card to play, I summoned my magic, silently praying that Walt’s precautions against my innate advantage didn’t extend to this spell.

“ _Ha-Di!_ ”

The destruction spell I’d initially intended to use against the barrier instead glowed brightly under the top tier of the pyramid. The block of wood shattered in a spectacular fashion, the wood fragments bouncing off of the barrier and forcing Annabeth to duck, arms covering her face to avoid the debris.

My eyes, however, were laser focused on the flag which, now that it no longer had a base to be attached to, began to plummet towards the ground. I summoned the arm of my combat avatar ( and okay, _yes_ , I was taking a page from Carter’s book from the last round, but hey- he could have a good idea every once in a blue moon) extending the silver hand and grabbing onto the metal flagpole.

I grinned, a laugh pulled from my chest because it had _actually_ worked! I had the flag! There was a flash of bronze, a flutter of red, and I blinked owlishly at the now flagless flagpole in my hand. My head raised just in time to see the demigod leap after her thrown dagger, the blade having embedded the red fabric in the ground ten feet below me and _forty_ feet below Annabeth.

 _She was crazy._ Actually _crazy_.

The insanity of it all left me frozen for a precious second. With a curse I ran, leaping over the inside edge and letting gravity pull me down too. Annabeth hit the ground with a graceful roll to her feet, lunging at the flag just as my own, less-than-impressive landing jarred up my legs. My fingers scraped the woven cloth, curling into the material at the same time as Annabeth grabbed the other side and we both pulled.

_Riiiiiip!_

I stumbled back, breathing heavily as I stared at the torn half of the flag in my hand. My head snapped up to see Annabeth staring at her own piece of the fabric, but instead of disappointment she actually looked pleased, a half smile on her face as she shook her head. Her gaze rose to meet mine and the grin grew until she was full-on laughing.

Even Walt sounded unsure as he cleared his throat, announcing “The winner of round three is… a tie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fin! Thanks for reading!
> 
> A tie! And a real one this time, too. The last chapter will be up on Friday (probably actually Saturday, but I'll do my best).
> 
> My deepest thanks to all who leave kudos and comments! I really appreciate the encouragement you all give me :D
> 
> Until next week!  
> <3


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